Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Tennant jumps into U.S. Senate race

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va.Decked out in red and filled with enthusiasm, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant told a crowd of supporters at the state Culture Center on Tuesday she’ll campaign for the Democrat nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Tennant paid tribute to her predecessors, claiming the state could benefit from expanding on federal installations from late Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s efforts. She also lauded the Toyota manufacturing plant and other automotive facilities courted to the state by Sen. Jay Rockefeller.

Beginning a five-city tour to kick off her candidacy, Tennant pledged to make college more affordable, fix the parts of Obamacare that are broken, and to stand up to anybody in Washington—Democrat or Republican—who stands in the way of West Virginia’s energy industries.

Tennant quickly moved to criticize her likely opponent in the 2014 general election, calling Republican U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito part of the problem in a broken Congress for 13 years.


The race promises to be one watched nationally and out-of-state money is expected to free flow into West Virginia if it becomes Capito v. Tennant.