Dems Rea, Doyle race off in JeffCo, face off in forum

Inspired by the original reporting of Martinsburg Journal staff reporter Naomi Smoot -


The spring sun and chilly weather have done little to dampen the bright spirits of our municipal gardens, themselves feasting on a wealth of groundwater left by the late winter blizzards.


Also seen in bloom in local yards and by wayside berms is a peculiar biennial breed of bachelor buttons known by academic taxonomy as the Politico Subscribium, or, in laymans terms, the humble campaign road sign, and another closely related members of the Politicus genus. 


Recent leisurely trips throughout the northern half of Jefferson County to observe West Virginia's springtime biennials have laid bare, perhaps, the biggest local story in this years mid-term primary election: West Virginia's 57th district Democratic primary is turning into quite a competition, in print, in public and online. 


Del. John Doyle (D-Shepherdstown) is facing, perhaps, his most serious competition in recent memory in the form of liberal challenger Lori Rea. Volunteers associated with Rea's campaign have been very active in distributing literature as Lori Rea signs dominate the local public thoroughfares along West Virginia County Route 230 and Flowing Springs Road, the two main thoroughfares which connect the Northern Jefferson County with U.S. 340. 


Del. Doyle's strategy, by this point in his career, is a finely tuned and well oiled machine which has served Del. Doyle well over his 28 year career in Shepherdstown.


This reporter, Michael Theis, has lived in Shepherdstown since August of 2001, when he was a student at Shepherd University. He says that during his young, dumb and impressionable years, he fashioned himself a Northeastern boy, bred liberal, before he moved west of the Blue Ridge, discovered journalism at The Picket and the joy of neutrality along with a guilty conscience which forces him to waive his right to vote so he doesn't rack up a huge tab at the therapists office or get fired. 


During Theis' tenure on the Executive Committee of the Shepherd University Young Democrats, eventually rising to the rank of Vice President of the college club during the 2004 presidential election season. In executing his duties, Theis was frequently in charge of rallying foot soldiers from the ranks of Shepherd's students to help staff events for Democratic politicians politicking locally and closely observing the interpersonal machinations which define the intimate nature of rural politics.


For the first time in Theis' nearly decade-long experience observing the political scene of the Eastern Panhandle, he refuses to speculate on the 57th district democratic primary. 


This is kind of a big deal. 


Del. Doyle is an institution in Shepherdstown, a city and county whose political atmosphere is frequently called the San Francisco or Berkeley, Calif., of West Virginia. Perhaps accurate for Shepherdstown at the open mic night atmosphere of Shepherdstown's municipal scene where party affiliation politics are almost a non-factor, but in races where parties do matter, Shepherdstown looks a lot more like Washington D.C., a one party town where even Fox News anchor and conservative intellectual Chris Wallace admits to being a card carrying member of the Democratic party just so he can have a voice in the affairs of his municipality (it's okay, he doesn't cover local municipal politics, that's Kojo Nnamde's job). Perhaps because of the local affinity for liberalism, Del. Doyle's career has always been safe from attacks from the right flank. 


 He has been involved in West Virginia's politics for almost three decades, first elected to a single term in 1982 when he represented West Virginia's 55th district, later, in 1992, he would return to office, this time in the 57th district. He markets himself as an effective legislator with the record to back it up. A November report in the Herald-Mail credits Del. Doyle as playing an instrumental role in the initial defeat, in 2007, and eventual adoption of the recent referendum on table games at Penn National Gaming's Charles Town Races and Slots (warning, wiki links are of suspect composition). Reflecting this history, his recent large advertising in the Chronicle has underscored his experience as a proven legislator who brings home the bacon. 


Enter Democratic challenger Lori Rea and her campaign. Where Doyle's campaign is anchored to old-media approaches, for instance, buying ad space in the Chronicle print editions, Rea has been active in the world of new-media, pressing the digital flesh on a Wordpress blog under the domain name Reafordelegate.com since at least August of 2009, in addition to her campaign presence on Facebook. Her weekly columns for the Chronicle, which are not published on the Chronicle's website, appear on her blog. She has also been a visible patron of the Chronicle's web site advertising program. In recent debates, she challenges Del. Doyle's record in the legislature with very effective language. 


Grab the popcorn, this one's gonna be fun.