CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Democratic Party is preparing for its annual Roosevelt-Kennedy Celebration on Saturday night in the Capital City.
The event, taking place exactly one month ahead of the November General Election, will be held at the Beni Kedem Temple in Charleston. Doors open at 6 p.m. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin will be the featured speaker.
“I believe it’s the first time that a sitting chair of the DNC has come to West Virginia,” West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin said Friday on MetroNews “Talkline.” “We’re really excited about that.”
Pushkin, who is also a Kanawha County delegate, said the dinner is an opportunity to build momentum heading into Election Day. He said it’s not just limited to Democrats; independents and Republicans are allowed to attend.
“This is just our annual dinner where Democrats and friends from all over the state get together,” Pushkin said. “It’s just a way of thanking our many volunteers, and people that work on our executive committees around the state, and all the people that are candidates, and everybody that has been working so hard.”
As for what Martin will highlight during his speech, Pushkin wasn’t sure. He noted that Martin has supported individual state parties, which is important because those officials put candidates on ballot and help make changes throughout the country.
“I know he’s a great speaker, and I know he’s got a lot to say,” Pushkin said. “He’s been in the news a lot lately and I know Ken Martin very well. I was an early supporter of him when he ran for chair and obviously, I still support him because he believes in sending the money down to where the rubber meets the road.”
West Virginia Democrats are halfway through their Kitchen Table Tour, visiting six counties in the Mountain State to discuss topics at the forefront of everyone’s attention, such as data centers, education changes, and Flock cameras. The tour continues Sunday in Jefferson County, then concludes with stops in Hancock County on October 14 and Cabell County on October 19.
Pushkin said Martin, and Democrats as a whole, are dedicating their efforts toward winning more races in November.
“He’s really been focused on this midterm, where a lot of times, the national parties tend to focus on the presidential years,” Pushkin said. “We’ve been all-in on the midterm, and I think the results are going to speak for themselves.”
Pushkin indicted that West Virginia Democrats will share some polling numbers next week. He said Republicans have likely done some polling of their own.
“Generally, when you get good news, you want to share it,” Pushkin said. “We want to share ours. It might be very bad news for Patrick Morrisey, let’s put it at that. He is slightly more popular than AI data centers in West Virginia, which means not very.”