PARKERSBURG — Local business owner Simon Hargus has announced his candidacy for West Virginia State Senate District 3.

Hargus, a Democrat, is running for the seat occupied by state Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood. Hargus will face local attorney Jim Leach in the May Democratic primary with the winner facing Azinger in the November election. No other Republican candidates have filed to run for the seat.

“I’m a pro-union, Medicare-for-all, and living wage type of Democrat,” Hargus said.

Hargus lives in Parkersburg with his wife, Lisa, and 2-year-old son Saul.

He is a proud product of the Wood County public school system, he said, and is a small business owner, First Settlement Physical Therapy, which employs over 130 people.

” I have decided to run for office because I don’t think we can solve real problems unless we put the politics of division aside,” Hargus said. “Our sense of community is what I love best about West Virginia. I am lucky enough to still know the people I grew up with and call them my family, friends, and neighbors.

“It breaks my heart to see neighbors pit against neighbors over political talking points that have nothing to do with sustainable solutions. The moment we start seeing people as ‘others’ instead of neighbors is the moment we lose our greatest strength — each other,” Hargus said.

Hargus said he is running with a focus on fighting hard for public employees, especially in light of the recent teachers pay issue. “Teachers are keystones in our communities,” he said. “They shepherd knowledge from generation to generation.”

When Hargus looks back on his own childhood, it is marked by teachers who had a profound impact on him and the direction he took in life, he said.

“I want to ensure that current and future West Virginians have that same opportunity,” he said.

Hargus has a doctorate in physical therapy and an MBA in Health Care Administration. He said he hopes to use that knowledge about health care to provide solutions to the state’s growing opioid epidemic.

“We all know someone who has been harmed by the opioid epidemic,” he said.

Hargus said he believes in reinforcing this community so people will want to stay here and move here.

“Adequately supporting our public employees, having 21st century classes in our community colleges, protecting our environment and getting rural high speed Internet should be the first steps in a serious West Virginia jobs program, not the afterthoughts,” he said.