If I was still a member of the West Virginia Republican party (I was President of College Republicans at WVU), I’d be embarrassed.

Of all the Republicans living in West Virginia, they chose a Marylander to run for office to replace Shelly Moore Capito as our Congressman. Alex Mooney is such a recent arrival to West Virginia, he hasn’t even voted for Capito. Why? Because he’s never voted in a West Virginia general election. He lived in Maryland! When he filed to run, he was still Chair of the Maryland GOP!

Even if that doesn’t bother you, consider what Mr. Mooney stands for. In May, in a radio interview, he reiterated his support of privatizing Social Security. That means our hard-earned Social Security money would be invested in the stock market. What could possibly go wrong? Flashback: 2008 and 2009. The stock market crashed, and if SS had been in private hands, our Social Security payments would have had to be cut.

Mr. Mooney also says he’d sell our nation’s National Parks to reduce the debt. Really? He’d sell Yellowstone and Yosemite? He’d sell Harpers Ferry National Historic Park and the C&O Canal? To the highest bidder? Who would that be? The Chinese? The Russians? Donald Trump? Just what we need: turnstiles and a toll booth to pay $10 just to walk along the Canal? A price to enter Historic Harpers Ferry?

I’m supporting Nick Casey for Congress. Nick is a businessman who raised his family and built a career in West Virginia. He’s not going to follow extreme ideology like Mr. Mooney. He’s not going to risk our Social Security money by putting it in the hands of Wall Street gamblers.

This election is important. Our congresswoman Capito is vacating the office she held for 14 years. The person who wins on Nov. 4 might be representing West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle for years to come.

Jeff Hertrick

Shepherdstown