Senate Preview: Sixth District Maynard (R) vs. Sammons (D)

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — The Sixth Senatorial District stretches along the West Virginia border with both Virginia and Kentucky, it snakes from Mercer County all the way to Wayne County.

After years of being a deeply held Democrat stronghold, Senator Mark Maynard from Wayne County pulled a political upset four years ago over former Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin. He’s now seeking a second term and hoping to return to Charleston with a Republican majority for what he said is more necessary work.

“I feel like I can represent this district and I know what they need,” Maynard said. “The direction the Senate has been headed is really helping coal. We’re reducing regulations on businesses and we’re helping with tort reform.”

Senator Mark Maynard

Maynard is a small business owner. He owns and operates a towing and auto salvage company in Wayne County. He’s challenged this election by Wayne County Dentist Dr. Charles Sammons. Sammons worked for the railroad in his early days in all counties of the sixth district before earning his degree in dentistry. He’s maintained a practice in his hometown of Kermit for many years. He’s a native of Crum, West Virginia.

Sammons grew up poor, but said he ever had to do without. His dad was a truck driver and despite being handicapped still drove a truck for Keebler for more than 30 years. Sammons said he wanted to go to Charleston and represent working West Virginians.

“That’s the people who keep this country going. That’s the people who keep this country honest,” he said. “Those are my people, those are who I am and I want those people to have a better life.”

But when you speak to both candidates, you get the feeling the issues which seem prevalent in the national debate and even those which are often hot topics in Charleston area very different from what’s considered vital in the Sixth Senatorial District. The needs of the district aren’t partisan according to the two men seeking the office.

“I’ve been working on getting internet and increasing water and sewer for my area,” said Maynard. “Also I would love to see the completion of I-73/74 corridor. I actually went to DC and visited with the Department of Transportation to talk about it. They gave me some direction on how to secure funding for that.”

“We need to address issues of employment and if we don’t provide the infrastructure so businesses can come in and open up, we can’t provide the businesses, “Sammons explained. “We’ve got to work with counties to develop adequate water and sewer projects, cell phone service, and particularly highway needs.”

Dr. Charles Sammons

Sammons takes it a step further. He’s concerned about the ongoing discussion of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education and fears the impact it will have on schools like Concord and Bluefield State College in his district.

“We need to keep our colleges separated,” he said. “Certainly at Bluefield and Concord there’s been an interest in combining those. I don’t see that as the right thing to do.”

Sammons said the schools’ mission is to educate students from the small communities of the sixth district and equip them to return to the district and serve a critical role.

Maynard added attacking the opioid problem needs more attention. He wants to explore the idea of a faith based approach to prevention in the local school system. He likes an organization called “Teen Challenge” which has offices in Bridgeport and Princeton. He admitted there are issues with separation of church and state, but would like to find a way to use the “Teen Challenge” prevention and treatment models to help overcome rampant drug use and abuse among residents of the counties in his district.

“I’d like to get some of these prevention programs in our schools,” Maynard said. “I’d also like to work on judicial sentencing to place them in these faith based programs.”

Democrats would desperately like to regain the seat, now held by a Republican. Senator Maynard stands by his record and hoped to retain the seat to continue the work of the Republican majority. However, both candidates seemed to have similar views of what the district needs and both indicated those needs are not partisan issues.