Azinger, Carmichael singled out in Dem campaign

CHARLESTON - The West Virginia Democratic Party is launching a last-minute mass-mail campaign against seven Republican members of the House of Delegates, including two Mid-Ohio Valley incumbents.

Among those in the crosshairs of the campaign are Tom Azinger, R-Wood, and Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson.

State Democratic Chairman Nick Casey said the seven are considered obstructionists because of their opposition to the House's Democratic majority on various issues.

"What we try to do is identify folks who may not be in sync, even with their own party. We think the Legislature would run more smoothly and be better served if they were replaced," Casey said.

Carmichael said he was actually quite flattered to have been targeted by the state Democratic party.

"The Legislature isn't a social club, it's about trying to change the direction of the state. We have a two-party system for a reason. If every time someone brings a voice of clarity to the process and they get specifically targeted for defeat - let them waste their money - I will wear this as a badge of honor," he said.

The other targeted delegates are Craig Blair of Berkeley County, Carol Miller and Kelli Sobonya of Cabell County, Tom Porter of Mercer County and Patti Schoen of Putnam County. They are among 26 GOP House members seeking re-election.

According to expenditure reports filed with the West Virginia Secretary of State's office, the Democratic Party Executive Committee has spent $65,329 with public-relations firm AMS Communications in the last week in the mailing campaign against the delegates $24,353 of which was against Azinger, Sobonya and Miller and another $40,976 against Azinger, Carmichael, Schoen, Porter, Blair, Sobonya and Miller.

Carmichael said this isn't the first time he has been specifically targeted and probably won't be the last.

"I've been targeted before. They would always like to knock off people who are outspoken on various issues. They would much rather have a group that is just sheep that follows the herd. In the last 75 years, the Legislature has been ruled by one party and West Virginia is 50th in the nation in per-capita income. Thank goodness there are people who aren't satisfied with how this state has been run the last 75 years," he said.

Azinger said he's not sure how obstructive a delegate could be when the majority party has a nearly three-fourths majority.

"As Republicans, there's not much obstructing we can do. We only have 28 votes (out of 100) in the House," he said.

Azinger said he believes the mail campaign has nothing to do with how cooperative Republican delegates are, but instead which candidates the majority party has deemed most vulnerable in the upcoming election.

"This has nothing to do with who's obstructing. They've picked seven guys and girls they think they can beat. They've done it many times before. They mail these out so they get to voters late enough that whoever is attacked doesn't have time to answer. Of course, it's their right to do that. As long as it's legal, they can do anything they want," Azinger said.

Delegate Larry Border, R-Wood, said he was a target of a similar last-minute campaign four years ago.

"It was radio attack ads that time," Border said.

Azinger said, however, that the last-minute campaigns might not be as effective as in years past.

"You could have as many as 10,000 people voting early. That could help, but this tactic has worked in other districts. I guess it's part of the game. I've never had anything like this against me before, but I've got it now."

Wood County Clerk Jamie Six said that as of Tuesday, around 6,000 people had already voted in Wood County.