West Virginia Democrat looks to score big upset in Trump country
FAYETTEVILLE, W.V. – Richard Ojeda embraces his reputation as a fighter. Sometimes, in very real ways.
While walking through a giant crowd at the recent "Bridge Day" festival in this part of southern West Virginia, his interview with NBC News was photo-bombed by supporters of his opponent, Carol Miller.
Ojeda wasn't having it.
"Hey, please go tell her lets debate!" he shouted, and verbal back-and-forth ensued.
"You guys don't wanna talk and the person you're representing don't wanna talk" Ojeda continued. "I'll debate her in a Wendy's parking lot, right now, any time!"
"God Bless America, vote for who you want to!" Miller's supporter shouted back.
"That's right, and you're welcome. You're welcome. Enjoy the freedoms that I fought for," he roared, adding, "Airborne!" the exclamation he uses as a greeting, and to punctuate his sentences.
He returned to the crowd, and to the interview. "Every once in a while it's just gotta happen," he said.
That willingness to go into battle against anyone is part of what's made Ojeda such a political force here.
In the "Trumpiest" district (the president won it by 49 points in 2016) in the "Trumpiest" state in the entire country (Trump won by 42 points), Democrats see a possible opportunity to pick up a Republican seat with the brash, tattooed, populist Ojeda, the former Army paratrooper and current state senator who gained notoriety as the face of the recent West Virginia teacher strike.
West Virginia's 3rd congressional district is an open seat this year, vacated by GOP Rep. Evan Jenkins's unsuccessful senatorial bid.
The district is well situated in Trump Country, and even Ojeda voted for Trump. But he now says he regrets it, suggesting that the results he wanted haven't materialized.
"Trump became president and I was very proud of the fact that the coal industry picked up," Ojeda explained. "We've got coal trains moving. They're full of coal. I give him a thumbs up on that. But what else? What about all those jobs that they were supposed to bring from overseas to here, because guess what? Not everybody here's coal miners. We need more than that. We are West Virginia. We need something. Can we get broadband? No Fortune 500 company is going to come here. What are they going to go back in time?"
Trump himself has dubbed Ojeda "stone cold crazy" and endorsed Miller, Ojeda's opponent, who declined repeated requests to be interviewed.
After jumping to an early lead in public polls here, Ojeda has seen his support erode in West Virginia- in part thanks to repeated visits to the state by President Trump, and to a barrage of negative ads highlighting his split from the president.
All three public polls of the race conducted in October had Miller ahead, two showing her lead outside the margin of error.
Walking around "Bridge Day," it's clear Ojeda isn't your stereotypical local candidate for Congress. He handed out business cards with his personal cell phone number and weathered both hollers of support and jeers from onlookers. He could hardly move without requests for selfies.
While it's that populist persona that took off during the teacher's strike and launched Ojeda into a minor cult figure in the area, he's also focused on fighting his political battles on numerous other fronts, including the opioid epidemic that's ravaging his state, promoting medical cannabis, and other economic and union issues.
Ojeda insists that all of this - his local celebrity status and his quest for higher political office - wasn't planned. Instead, he told an undecided voter from Oak Hill he was motivated to run after returning home from service because he was "sickened" by politicians.
