Skinner

CHARLES TOWN Stephen Skinner, a local attorney and Jefferson County native, announced Monday his plans to run in May’s primary election to represent the new 67th District in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Skinner will run in the Democratic primary for the district long represented by Delegate John Doyle, D-Jefferson, who announced last week that he does not intend to seek re-election.

The 67th District includes Shepherdstown, Shenandoah Junction, Harpers Ferry, Bolivar and parts of the Blue Ridge Mountain. Skinner, who lives just outside of Shepherdstown, has never run for a public office before but is a member of the Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee and was elected to be a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

“I’ve been involved in politics at the local and state level for a while, and I thought long and hard about what it means to be in the House, and I think that I have the experience, even as a new candidate, to step in and move forward with a proactive agenda for the Eastern Panhandle,” Skinner said in a phone interview Monday afternoon.

Skinner added that, as a relative political newcomer, he’s looking forward to what challenges may be in the primary election if there are additional Democratic candidates.

“The folks in the 67th District, I’m going to hear what they’re interested in talking about in the Eastern Panhandle and throughout the state and look at the issues that those people want to talk about,” he said. “Whether it be in the primary or in the general.”

Skinner is unsure how much money he’ll spend on his campaign, but he currently has fundraising commitments of around $15,000, he said.

“Any primary challenge will make it fairly expensive. I think that I’ve got commitments in the district and throughout the state to make sure that my message gets out there,” he said.

Skinner also said that, if elected, he hopes to continue some of the projects Doyle continues to work towards, including the construction of a parking garage in Shepherdstown to alleviate some of the parking issues found there.

The primary election is scheduled for May 8, and the general election is set for Nov. 6 of 2012. Additional election information is available online at either www.sos.wv.gov or www.jeffersoncountyclerkwv.org.