By james art 
MARSHALL COUNTY, West Virginia — There are two candidates running for the West Virginia House of Delegates, District 7 – Republican Charles Sheedy and Democrat Devon Tennant.
Tennant is 19 years old, but says age won’t stop him from running and representing the people in his community.
He is from Proctor, West Virginia, graduated from Magnolia High School and served on the New Martinsville Youth Council.
He interned in the House of Delegates for 2 years with former Delegates Dave Pettel and with Lisa Zukoff. Tennant hopes voters will do some research on each candidate before heading to the polls.
“Right now we’re seeing an attack on organized labor, we’re seeing a tax on working people in our state, and if we’re going to build the working class, the middle class, we’ve got to have legislatures that are willing to vote for those who are part of the working families of the West Virginia,” he said.
If elected, Tennant wants to support legislation that will help improve roads, bridges and clean water, along with more investment in Wetzel and Marshall counties.
“My district covers Marshall and Wetzel counties, and I would prioritize both counties equally,” he said. “Right now, we’re seeing that the current legislature hasn’t given equal priority to both counties, and I’d also like to invest in our small businesses here in Marshall and Wetzel counties.”
Incumbent Charles R. Sheedy Sr. hopes to retain his House seat. He lives in Cameron and is a former union construction worker, worked for the highway department as an equipment operator, then retired as the Marshall County administrator. His name is on 14 separate bills that passed, including the Gold Star license plate bill that passed unanimously.
“I’ve got a couple of veterans issues that we’ve been working on that have been approved, tax breaks that we’ve passed, I’ve worked with city governments and helped them get grants that they probably wouldn’t have gotten,” Sheedy said. And I’m currently working on another bill that will prevent sexual predators from entering schools.”
If re-elected, Sheedy says there are many current issues in Cameron, Hundred and New Martinsville — from the Cameron mine subsidence to the consolidation of Wetzel County schools — that he would like to focus on.
“The school consolidation, that’s a big issue for those in the small town of Hundred. We’re looking at things to support that school and maybe even turn it into a public charter school,” he said.
“I just want to make sure the voices of District 7 are heard. Right now, the majority are the voices that are heard, and that’s my main goal is to make sure that people’s voices are heard.”