Among those gathering Tuesday night at J.P. Henry’s to watch the State of the Union speech were, from left, Warren Bigley, a member of the Wood County Republican Executive Committee; Matthew Doddrill, a Republican candidate for the 10th District House of Delegates; Carie Adams; Wood County Commissioner Blair Couch; Linda Rabatin and Leonard Rabatin. (Photo by Jeffrey Saulton)

PARKERSBURG — Local Republicans gathered at J.P. Henry’s Tuesday to watch the first State of the Union speech from President Donald Trump. For the most part they said they were pleased with what they heard.

Wood County Commissioner Blair Couch said he was hoping for a speech where the president will attempt to bring the country together.

“I hope he takes a page from the Ronald Reagan book and hopefully offers some conciliation to the other side,” he said. “It has been a tough year; I’m more of a John Kasich Republican and that puts me in a different position for West Virginia.”

Couch said the problem West Virginia has had with every economic recovery is it is usually at the tail end and benefits very little.

“My feeling is West Virginia is like the rubber band at the end of the balloon,” he said. “We see something somewhere else and we are slow to catch up.”

Couch said with Gov. Jim Justice things may be different.

“I think the world of him after the fire and how he supported Wood County,” he said.

Couch added the relationship between Justice and Trump may help the state secure the jobs needed to boost the state’s economy.

“It takes a big business doing business with a small business to help small businesses,” he said. “Many small businesses suffer if they don’t have a big business to do business with like DuPont and Chemours.

“In my little business we supply rental cars to a lot of big businesses and I’d love to have more big businesses that support small businesses,” Couch said.

Matthew Doddrill, a Republican candidate for the 10th Delegate District, said the President’s talk about tax cuts was a continuation of the promises he made.

“Locally I’m beginning to see where families are having a benefit of that cut,” he said. “What we must do is a continuation of that.”

Doddrill said he sees West Virginia as being one of the first states to benefit from the tax cuts.

“We’ll see infrastructure work and Trump has said West Virginia is there; we are anxious for that to begin,” he said. “We want to see all West Virginians benefit.”

Warren Bigley, a member of the Wood County Republican Executive Committee, said Trump’s speech was good for the country.

“I think this is probably the most uplifting and unifying speech since Ronald Reagan called for the country to unite,” he said. “Building on his success in 2017, the stock market is up, we have tax cuts and job creation.”

Bigley said despite the failures to completely repeal the Affordable Care Act and an impasse on immigration, the tax cuts will lay a groundwork for more successes.

“It will lay the groundwork in 2018 for work on an overhaul of health care and for work on immigration.”

U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., said the State of the Union speech outlined a path for the United States.

“This administration has set us on a path that will make America stronger and safer than ever before,” he said. “Last month, Congress passed historic tax reform that will put more money in the pockets of America’s middle class. The stock market reached new heights and in so doing strengthened pension funds and retirement accounts for all Americans.”

McKinley, of the First District, said the energy policies of the administration have been a help for the country and West Virginia.

“We’ve unleashed coal, oil, and gas development in the United States by expanding access to resources and the infrastructure needed to get them to market,” he said. “As a result, coal exports have increased 45 percent and 2018 is going to be a consequential year for Congress, and we must come together in a bipartisan fashion to address some of the biggest issues of our lifetime.”

McKinley said fixing America’s crumbling infrastructure is something that must be done in 2018.

“The time has also come to reform our country’s immigration system,” he said. “This must include bipartisan solutions to secure our borders, rework our system for legal immigration and provide a path forward on the DACA issue.”

McKinley said during the campaign, President Trump made a promise to the American people: elect him and together we will grow our economy, bring jobs back to America, and make our country stronger, and safer.

“Just one year into this historic presidency, one thing is certain: he is fulfilling that promise,” McKinley said.