Community organizer launches 2020 gubernatorial bid as Democrat
A longtime community organizer and nonprofit director announced plans to run for governor in 2020.
Stephen Noble Smith, 38, who ran the West Virginia Healthy Kids and Families Coalition for the past six years, confirmed Wednesday he plans to run as a Democrat in the 2020 gubernatorial election.
He said despite a number of positive economic indicators for the state, it doesn’t feel like the economy is thriving like some say it is. This stems from a tax structure that works against small, local business, he said, and a class of political leadership that’s out of touch with working families’ problems.
“In terms of real GDP per capita, we are producing more wealth right now in the state than we ever have before, but it doesn’t feel like it, because that wealth isn’t staying here,” he said. “It’s not staying in our pockets, it’s not staying in our roads, it’s not staying in our schools, and as long as that imbalance exists where the work and the wealth that we’re creating here goes somewhere else, we’re going to continue to be in crisis.”
Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/community-organizer-launches-gubernatorial-bid-as-democrat/article_ba8ef0fb-1ee8-52e6-8c10-1d79d1a9bc00.html