We have a great blend of large and small businesses in our area. The small businesses near the recreational areas of our County are doing an outstanding job of keeping tourism alive and growing as an industry. As a former proprietor of a small business you can count on me to promote and protect them.  

I would like to see health care workers' careers be protected with benefit packages,  such as company-wide pensions. I think that the state should look  at benefit packages that medical facilities provide,  as an incentive in exchange for the tax-free status enjoyed by the not-for-profits.

I will also advocate for jobs with good pay and safe working conditions. I grew up in a union household and my husband is a former UMWA coal miner. People in our community deserve good wages for their work.     

As owners of lifetime West Virginia hunting and fishing licenses, my husband and I drive roads throughout the state. There is no excuse for the roads to be in this shape. This is a statewide problem that needs to be addressed  continuously. Lawmakers are the link between the protection of our roads, waterways, forest, and air quality.  I will take this seriously.   

And folks, it is the millennium! Why can't we have good cell service? We are not the only state in the U.S. with hills. Our service providers need to overcome this shortfall and get 5G everywhere, not just where cell phone companies think we need it most. It's time West Virginia stepped up the game on technology to enhance our lives.

Education in West Virginia is not allowing our kids to thrive.  I believe that we need to pay close attention to what our educators are saying. And learn what it will take to bring a public school system to higher standards. As I talk to teachers in our area, I have to lay blame and responsibility on the shoulders of our legislature.  As a Delegate, I will promote better free public education. I also see a need for specialized learning academics and more trade schools.                 

I’m also Grandma to seven grandchildren and help raise them. I will speak up for quality child care and support for parents and grandparents raising the next generation.

My family became victims of the opioid epidemic when criminals dumped our son's body in the local hospital parking lot, to be retrieved by the custodian. As the convictions for the delivery of fentanyl causing death progressed, my son's widow, children, and all of our family became acutely aware of the elements of addiction.  Crime, incarceration, death,  recovery, rehabilitation, and mental illness have all impacted family life in Nicholas County.  I promise to be a good custodian of the legislation evolving from this crisis.