Mike Oliverio announces run for WV Senate

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It’s been nearly a decade since Mike Oliverio last served in the West Virginia Legislature, and he’s ready to go back to Charleston. 

Mike Oliverio

Oliverio, a Republican from Morgantown, told MetroNews affiliate WAJR-AM on Thursday he will run for the 13th District State Senate seat, which includes parts of Monongalia and Marion counties. 

“I’ve been at it for a long time. I really care about our community and have had some wonderful opportunities to serve our community in the House of Delegates and a long time in the state Senate, and I’m interested in representing this community again,” Oliverio stated on “Talk of the Town.” 

Listen to “Talk of the Town | January 27, 2022” on Spreaker.

While Monongalia County was among just eight counties to experience population growth from 2001 to 2010, Oliverio believes the region is often overlooked by lawmakers in Charleston.  

“If you add the population of Morgantown to the population of Fairmont, you get a number that is very close to the population of Charleston, yet the dollars coming into Charleston are significantly higher than the dollars coming into Morgantown and Fairmont,” Oliverio said. 

The current political makeup of the state could be playing a role in other areas getting more of a focus from lawmakers, according to Oliverio. Republicans hold supermajorities in both the Senate and the House of Delegates, but most of the representation for Monongalia and Marion Counties is from members of the minority party. 

“If we want the best for our community, I think we need to send some legislators to Charleston who are members of the Republican party, who are in the majority, who will be able to make decisions and help our community.”

Both current senators in the 13th District, Bob Beach and Mike Caputo, are Democrats. And five of the eight delegates who represent Monongalia and Marion Counties are Democrats. 

Oliverio himself was previously a member of the Democratic Party. He represented the area in the House of Delegates starting in 1993 and was elected to the state Senate in 1995, serving until he opted to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and narrowly lost to current Congressman David McKinley. 

Since that time, West Virginia politics have changed and so has Oliverio. He switched parties in 2018 amid West Virginia’s shift to a majority Republican state and in the same year got back into the political scene. 

Oliverio ran for the 13th District Senate seat in 2018 against incumbent Democrat Bob Beach and came up short by 1,563 votes. 

Beach announced in October he would not seek re-election this year and instead intends to run for the Monongalia County Commission. 

Carly Braun, a fellow Republican has also filed to run for the GOP nomination in the 13th District. 

Current Monongalia County Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer is the only Democrat to file.





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