Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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January 11, 2011

Kessler defends leadership shake-up in Charleston

By CHARLES OWENS Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — Sen. Jeff Kessler doesn’t view the leadership shake-up in Charleston as a power struggle between the deep south counties and northern West Virginia.

“It isn’t,” Kessler, D-Marshall, told members of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph’s editorial board Monday. “If you look at my leadership team, there are 18 committees in the Senate. If you look at the numbers, there are 10 of the folks who I would consider from the South. “

Kessler has apparently garnered enough support within the 34 member Senate to serve as its acting leader while current Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin serves as West Virginia’s acting governor. The leadership team announced last week by Kessler includes Berkeley County Sen. John Unger as his new majority leader, Sen. Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, as his new majority whip and Sen. Brooks McCabe of Kanawha County as president pro tempore.

If the new leadership team is elected as anticipated Wednesday, Sen. Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, the current Senate Majority Leader whose district includes Mercer County, will lose his leadership post.

Kessler, who has garnered the support of Sen. Mark Wills, D-Mercer, and Sen. Ron Miller, D-Lewisburg, said he expects to have more than enough votes Wednesday to make the new leadership team official. He points to the selection of Browning as majority whip as an example of a lawmaker on the new leadership team with strong ties to southern West Virginia.

“I think the Senate needs to effectively control its own destiny,” Kessler said. “The Senate should in my view, and the majority members, should be able to determine and elect their own controlling officers. It’s not about me. It’s not about Truman. It’s not about who is in power. The Senate needs to pick its own members.”

Kessler, who vowed Monday to help southern West Virginia, said Chafin was originally on his team.

“He was on my team until he felt he could get a better deal,” Kessler said. “It may be a power play, but it’s not on my end. None of my guys were promised anything. I can tell you others were promised all kinds of things.”

Kessler said the new leadership team set to take power on Wednesday will work to address the needs of southern West Virginia, including water, sewer, broadband and roads.

“If you don’t have it now, it’s not going to get any worse,” Kessler said. “There is no one that is going to worker harder than Richard (Browning) and Mark Wills and your new senators. If there are issues that need to be addressed, they are going to fight for it and bring it to the forefront.”

Kessler said he didn’t know why some long-time needs in the deep south counties haven’t been resolved to date, adding that the region is currently represented by Chafin and Sen. John Pat Fanning, D-McDowell. When asked if he was expected to have the support of Fanning during Wednesday’s vote, Kessler said no.

Although he will no longer be Senate Majority Leader, Kessler said Chafin will still be a senator serving Mercer County and the entire 6th Senatorial District.

“You still have Truman Chafin and John Pat Fanning,” Kessler said. “They aren’t leaving the Senate. Their job is to still represent their district. Just because they may not have the title hanging on their door of majority leader, it doesn’t mean you won’t have representation. They are not pariahs in my camp. I welcome them. I welcome their ideas. They will still be vocal and active leaders.”

Kessler, who previously declared himself as a candidate for governor in 2012, was asked if he would step down as Senate president, and run for governor, if a special election is ordered before 2012.

“I don’t know,” Kessler said. “A part of it is timing. If Earl Ray is in there and doing a bang up job, I can reading the writing on the wall. For the next 60 days my focus is going to be solely on running the Senate.”

When asked about coal, Kessler said coal will remain the nation’s most abundant and available natural resource for decades to come. Kessler said he will continue to actively fight for coal.

Kessler was then asked about redistricting, and the possibility of southern West Virginia losing Senate and House seats.

“I can’t change population,” Kessler said. “The census is going to come out and tell you how many people live (in an area). I can’t change that. I can’t invent people. You take what ever the state’s population is and divide it by 17 districts. I can’t help that southern West Virginia has lost population and the eastern panhandle has picked it up. That’s the cold hard facts.”

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com



 

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