Cathy Kunkel is the Democratic nominee for US House of Representatives in West Virginia's 2nd district. Energy expert and co-founder of Rise Up West Virginia challenges Alex Mooney
CHARLESTON, WV. - - Energy policy expert and public
advocate Cathy Kunkel recently became the Democratic nominee for West Virginia’s
second Congressional district.
“I am running because the
second Congressional district deserves better,” said Kunkel, who's platform
emphasizes the need for economic revitalization and strengthening our rural
economies in the face of climate change and the financial weakness of the
coal and natural gas industries. “We must end the decades-old pattern of
out-of-state corporations coming to West Virginia to extract wealth from
our state and exploit our people. We must build up local businesses that
will reinvest in the local economy. We must bring in federal investment
in the infrastructure needed to grow diverse sectors of our economy, including
tourism, farming, forestry and manufacturing. We can build a strong economy
that works for all West Virginians.”
Kunkel’s platform includes: federal
infrastructure investment (including drinking water infrastructure, broadband,
reclamation and transportation), policies to support working families and
to protect pensions, strengthening public education and eliminating student
debt, and healthcare for all.
Kunkel has testified in various
cases before the West Virginia Public Service Commission, regarding electric
utility rate increases and long-term energy planning. Among her other work,
she has analyzed the economic, financial impact of natural gas drilling
and pipelines in the region, researched absentee land ownership in West
Virginia, and fought electric utility corporate bailouts. Her research
has been cited by the Washington Post, NBC News, the Associated Press,
The Hill, SNL Financial, The Intercept, and by members of Congress.
Kunkel also co-founded Rise Up WV,
a Charleston-based organization that organizes for healthcare for all,
quality public education, better services for those suffering from addiction,
and more. In 2018, Rise Up WV endorsed and helped to elect multiple first-time
public officials for municipal and statehouse offices in Kanawha County.
Kunkel has signed the WV Can’t Wait
candidate pledge launched by gubernatorial candidate Stephen Smith to not
take corporate money. Like Smith, Kunkel’s campaign emphasizes the need
to build lasting political power, independent of either party apparatus,
to affect real change. “I can’t deliver on fundamental change for West
Virginia as one person. Lasting change in this country has only ever come
about through social movements, and we need all of us working together
to turn things around in West Virginia,” she said.
“I’ve made a career out of standing
up to powerful special interests and supporting social movements” said
Kunkel. “This is what the campaign will be about - giving the second district
a real advocate in the halls of power, and building a movement that brings
people together to create lasting change in West Virginia.”
Follow the campaign at www.kunkelforcongress.com, https://www.facebook.com/Kunkel4Congress/ and on Twitter @kunkel4congress. Contact: Dan Taylor, campaign manager, 929-525-3111 or dan@kunkelforcongress.com
2-24-2020