Ohio County Delegation Backs Obama for Presidential Nominee

By JOSELYN KING Political Writer
WHEELING — Ohio County’s delegation to the West Virginia Democratic Convention this summer largely will support U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for president.

About 50 registered county Democrats turned out for the Ohio County convention Saturday to show their interest in this year’s election and participate in the selection of the delegates. Most all wore T-shirts or pins supporting Obama, D-Ill.

Ohio County is to send 44 delegates to the state convention. County party officials estimated that among those signing on Saturday to be delegates, 40 supported Obama.

All of West Virginia’s counties on Saturday held county Democratic conventions to select delegates to the state convention set for June 13-14 at the Charleston Civic Center. At the state convention, West Virginia’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 25-28 in Denver will be selected.

West Virginia’s primary election takes place May 13. The results of that election will reflect the makeup of the state’s delegation to the convention and be representative of the percentage of votes each candidate received. As such, if Candidate A receives 60 percent of the vote, 60 percent of the state’s 39 delegates will be comprised of supporters of Candidate A.

Rules for the Ohio County Convention on Saturday called for the delegates to be selected evenly from among the county’s three magisterial districts, and that there had to be an equal number of men and women selected.

In the end, however, just 33 persons present expressed interest in being a delegate, leaving 11 slots open for nomination. By voice vote, those present agreed to choose the delegation at-large and select the 33 persons already registered. The first 11 nominations from the floor — these were of persons not in attendance — were added to the list.

Ohio County’s delegate list is as follows: Janice Raheem; Jesse Miller; Whitney Inkster; Matthew Inkster; Patricia Tiu; Al Taylor; Theodora Grogin; Francie Isler; Diana Bell; Ruth Prosser; Owens Brown; Arvind Patel; Raymond Gallaway; Dorothy Knight; Douglas Branham; Christine Krieger; Bernard Och; Bobbie Taylor; Paul Krieger; Brendon Leary; Mike Rafa; Mary Ann Rafa; Sharon Cundiff; Evan Cundiff; Michael Hale; James Guy; Lynne Walton; Rebecca Krieger; Remington Markos; Sue Markos; Regina Jones; Sue Thorn; Scott Smith; Toni Chapman; Kathy Abraham; Kathy Burgoyne; James Tiu; Tom Burgoyne; Kelly Bell; Donald Pitts; Karen Och; Becky Murphy; Staci Spry and Cecelia Pugh.

James Guy, 33, an Obama supporter, was among the organizers at the convention.

“I’ve always been involved in politics, but Senator Obama has inspired me,” Guy said. “I believe this man is perfectly suited to lead the nation.

“It’s time for new leadership, and I believe he is the one to build a bridge into the 21st century — not take us back to the 20th century.”

One supporter of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y, was Lynn Walton, 39. She said she has studied up on both candidates and where they stand.

“I believe Senator Clinton has the background and experience to be president,” Walton said. “There are all the things she has gone through with her husband, and her experience as a senator.”

She added that it was actually the state Republican convention back in February that inspired her to become active with the presidential election.

“I read in the newspaper what happened at the Republican convention, and how there were a number of counties where nobody came forward as delegates,” Walton said. “I felt bad that people weren’t interested. It was so sad that nobody had any interest in these counties.”

Owens Brown, 56, said he sees Obama as a candidate who could bring people together during difficult times.

“He has great leadership skills and a positive message,” Brown said of Obama. “We need it to be positive in these times.”

Obama supporter Remington Markos, 20, a communications/journalism student at West Virginia Northern Community College, sees Obama as a candidate of change who could unify different factions in the nation.

“And he care more about people than money unlike the majority of candidates,” Markos said. “He accepts no contributions from interest groups.”

As a college student, Markos said it will be financially difficult for him to go to Charleston. Delegates must pay their own expenses, though Charleston hotels are offering the delegates a special rate of $88 a night for the convention.

The delegates likely will car pool to Charleston, and they plan to hold fundraisers to cover expenses there and to Denver if any local delegates are selected to go to the national convention.

About 1,500 delegates from counties throughout West Virginia will go to the state convention. Locally, Brooke County will send 24 delegates to the state convention; Hancock, 28; Marshall, 28; Ohio, 44; Tyler, 8; and Wetzel, 18.