West Virginia State House District 91

Current seat holder: Ian T. Masters (Republican).

David Michaels

David Michaels is the Democratic candidate for House of Delegates District 91, representing Berkeley County. During the primary election, he received 432 votes. In November, he will face Republican Chris Clagett. Michaels is from Hedgesville, West Virginia. His campaign priorities include clean water initiatives, locality pay for school staff, healthcare and he opposes data centers. Michaels is a retired electro-mechanical engineer, pilot, farmer and preacher. He is part of the Berkeley County Landmarks Commission as its treasurer. Michaels and Clagett are both looking to replace former disgraced elect Joseph De Soto who was not sworn in after criminal charges were brought against him. Gov. Patrick Morrisey appointed Ian Masters to fill De Soto’s vacancy and is not seeking reelection. Michaels was submitted as a replacement by the Berkeley County Democratic Executive Committee but Morrisey did not select him, choosing Masters instead.

Chris Clagett

Chris Clagett is the Republican candidate for House of Delegates District 91, serving Berkeley County. Clagett is a veteran and served in the U.S. Navy for nine years. He served as the preventive medicine officer and department head in Sigonella, Italy, as well as the regional consultant for CENTCOM and AFRICOM. He was also a co-developer for a deployed unit syndromic surveillance system for Operation Iraqi Freedom. His campaign priorities include small business growth in District 91, and he says he’s against “Cultural Marxism.” Clagett says he is also for smaller governmental roles in day-to-day life and the reduction and eventual elimination of property tax in District 91. He says he wants to reduce Berkeley County lobbying funded by taxpayers and eliminate what is commonly referred to as the “Rain Tax” in Berkeley County. Clagett’s previous medicinal militarial experience highlights an importance on healthcare but his campaign remains quiet on efforts to help District 91 residents with healthcare issues. He is set to face Democrat David Michaels in November. Both are vying for Ian Master’s seat who was appointed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey.

· Candidate campaign website & Ballotpedia (secondary source)

Campaign site

“I am an ardent admirer of the Founders and the Constitutional order they established. I consider it one of the duties of elected representatives to preserve that order of limited government and individual liberty. I have a strong interest in economics, adhering to the principles taught by the Austrian School and rejecting the voodoo crackpottery of modern spend-ourselves-rich theory. I also have an enduring interest in early reading instruction, having taught my two oldest children to read in kindergarten after immersing myself in research on how a child acquires the reading skill in an alphabetic writing system.” (Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey)
“Our educational system performs very poorly for its exorbitant cost of $2B per year. For that price, we should be doing much better. The answer is competition and choice; the Hope scholarship is a good start, and should be expanded and supplemented by other pro-choice ideas. For children who remain in public schools, we need to get rid of the cultural Marxism corroding the education, indoctrinating children in Marxism recast along racial, ethnic, sexual, and even religious lines of oppressor and oppressed.” (Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey)