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Jimmy Colombo switches party to GOP

PARKERSBURG — After a lifetime as a Democrat, Wood County Commissioner Jimmy Colombo has changed his party affiliation and is now a Republican.

Colombo recently made the switch after thinking about the direction the Democratic Party has taken in recent years.

”I had been a Democrat all my life,” he said with the exception of years he served on the state Parole Board when he switched to being an Independent on what he felt should be a non-partisan board.

His family has had strong ties to the coal mining industry as both his grandfathers supported large families doing coal mining work.

Back then, the Democratic Party helped coal miners, securing better pay and other assistance that helped them make lives better for themselves and their families, Colombo said.

However, over the last few weeks he has looked at the party leadership at the national level and came to the conclusion that the Democratic Party did not have the best interests of working people at heart anymore, Colombo said.

”They came across as not caring,” Colombo said.

He points to U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as people who have guided the Democratic Party away from what it used to stand for, Colombo said.

He said Clinton “ran over” U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and his support with her talk of putting coal mines and coal miners out of business.

”That bothered me a lot,” Colombo said.

Having served on the state Parole Board, Colombo said he learned a lot about the importance of due process.

With the recent confirmation hearings involving Judge Brett Kavanaugh being confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Colombo said he saw many Democratic federal lawmakers go after Kavanaugh with no clear evidence to support their accusations.

Having two daughters (and two sons), Colombo said he knows about the dangers women can face, but if someone can just be accused of a crime that can lead to the lost of their livelihood and the lost of their family without any kind of proof, he had a problem with that.

However, that was what federal Democratic lawmakers were doing with Kavanaugh, Colombo said.

”They didn’t care,” he said, adding Kavanaugh had spent years as a federal judge and his work there had little bearing on anything.

Anyone could make an accusation against anyone and that accusation alone would be enough to ruin them, Colombo said.

”I didn’t want to be a part of a party like that,” he said.

Wood County Democratic Chairman Judith Stephens said she was “disappointed, but not surprised” by Colombo’s decision.

Wood County Republican Party Chairman Rob Cornelius cited Kavanaugh’s treatment as one of the reasons for the change.

”He had been considering it for a while, but I think he finally broke with the liberal Democrat Party after their shoddy treatment of Judge Kavanaugh a few weeks back,” Cornelius said. ”The invitation to conservative-minded and religious folks in the Democrat Party, like Jimmy, has been ongoing for years.

”I’ve personally made the invitation many times to the former mayor and now-commissioner. We welcome all those who believe the Democrats nationally have left them and their values,” Cornelius said.

With the parties changing and the state changing, Colombo said he thought he wanted to be with someone he felt had the interest of working class people at heart.

However, he said it will not affect how he deals with people.

Colombo said he always ran for office to be able to help people in the city and the county, regardless of their party affiliation.

”I will continue to do what I can,” Colombo said. ”I feel like I can make a change that can help people.”

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