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PARKERSBURG -- Three candidates for the House of Representatives are running in the new 1st Congressional District in West Virginia.
The candidates are incumbent Rep. Carol Miller, a Republican representing the old 3rd District in Southern West Virginia, Democrat Lacy Watson and independent Belinda Fox-Spencer. Early voting starts on Wednesday.
The district was created by the redistricting in 2021. West Virginia, because of popultion declines, lost one of three congressional districts in the House of Representatives.
Miller was first elected to the House in 2018. She served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2006 to 2018 and was Majority Whip.
The pro-life Miller serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.
She and her husband. Matt, live in Huntington and operate Swann Ridge Bison Farm.
Watson lives in Bluefield and was an instructor at Bluefield State College.
Among the planks in his platform are ending incarceration for non-violent drug offenders and the decriminalazation of cannabis, full funding for public libraries, support for family farms in West Virginia, a tax system based on the ability to pay, rural access to broadband and programs for children and families including safe and affordable day care and after school care, an effective and fair child support collection system and policies that support health child bearing and planning with comprehensive family life education.
Fox-Spencer said she was born and raised in southern West Virginia.
"I was taught the values of hard work and respect for others, as many of them worked in farming, infrastructure, and the military," her sys on her website. "I'm proud to say I grew up in a Christian home in which I was taught the importance of compassion and love for all people."
She is a small business owner and has worked in health care for 20 years as a diagnostic medical sonographer specializing in Women's Health.
This is the first election after the redistricting approved last year by the West Virginia Legislature. Counties in the new 1st District are Calhoun, Gilmer, Jackson, Wirt, Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Putnam, Raleigh, Roane, Summers, Wayne, Webster and Wyoming.