House incumbents work closely in Legislature

One GOP challenger in 41st, 43rd districts

By Bill Byrd

FAIRMONT — Democratic incumbents in the state House of Delegates in Marion and Harrison counties are only being challenged by one Republican in each district.

Meanwhile, a Democratic challenger in the district for Taylor County is running unopposed in the Nov. 4 general election and thus can already claim the lone seat in the 42nd House District race. The district includes one precinct in the Bunner Ridge area of Marion County.

Mike Manypenny, 49, manages the Oak Grove Greenhouses off U.S. Route 119 near Grafton. He grew up on a 350-acre farm in the region.

Making health care accessible and affordable and “creating sustainable economic development and jobs” are among his causes. He says he will be a “strong, yet independent Democratic voice in the Legislature.”

Here are brief profiles on the candidates in the 43rd and 41st districts, starting with the incumbents:

43rd House

Delegate District

House Majority Whip Mike Caputo is seeking his seventh two-year term in the House.

As Majority Whip, Caputo, 51, ranks third in the House leadership, behind the Speaker and the Majority Leader.

A coal miner for 20 years at Eastern Associated’s Federal No. 2 mine, he is a political coordinator for the International United Mine Workers in five states.

“We worked very hard to get to the positions we have today,” he said of himself and fellow Delegates Tim Manchin and Linda Longstreth. The trio works closely and their experience and seniority helps them represent the county, he said.

“We’re very proud of our accomplishments. I really do believe the state is moving in the right direction,” he said.

He was a leader in the passage of new emergency mine safety regulations after the 2006 Sago Mine Disaster. He chairs the House Select Committee on Mine Safety. Besides a seat on the Rules Committee, he also is a member of these committees: Agriculture & Natural Resources; Government Organization; and Constitutional Revision.

The Legislature must “continue its efforts to pay down the state’s unfunded debt” in its retirement systems for teachers and other public employees. In recent years, lawmakers have put $1 billion into the state’s troubled pension funds for teachers and other public employees.

Caputo points to legislation that allows teachers who took part in a defined contribution plan that went bad to rejoin the traditional defined benefits pension plan.

Lawmakers also have cut the food sales tax in half, dropping it from 6 percent to 3 percent. “We’re phasing it out in a responsible manner.”

“We also lowered the business franchise tax and the corporate net income tax, which we hope will lead to more businesses creating more jobs in the state,” he said.

He is a strong supporter of Gov. Joe Manchin’s policy of getting the state’s financial house in order. In the last four years, the state has gained 20,000 new jobs, which have generated $4 billion in new business investment in the state, Caputo said.

“We’ve done all this with no general tax increases for more than 15 years,” he said.

A Rivesville resident, Caputo and his wife, Tina Thorn Caputo, have two grown children.

Delegate Tim Manchin, 53, is running for his third term in the House. He is a member of the House Finance Committee. He also chairs the Political Subdivisions Committee and is on the Roads & Transportation Committee.

A lawyer, he is a past president of the state Trial Lawyers Association. He has practiced in Fairmont for 25 years.

“In order to correct the problems we have experienced with our West Virginia Supreme Court, I want to pass legislation that would help eliminate special interest campaign contributions and spending in these races,” he said.

He also wants to increase state funding for new water and sewer systems, and also shorten the length of time it takes from application for a new system to its construction.

In his role as chairman of the Political Subdivisions Committee, he wants to “clarify the date on which a candidate running for county commission must be a resident of the open seat district and to provide appropriate timelines by which challenges to such eligibility must be brought.”

Manchin recently successfully defended fellow Democrat, Burley “Butch” Tennant Jr. in such a residency suit.

Manchin said the challenge facing lawmakers is “to maintain financial responsibility while providing additional tax relief to those living on fixed incomes.”

He also wants to find money for pay raises for teachers and other public employees and to boost the pensions of retired public workers.

Delegate Linda Longstreth, 57, is seeking her third term. A Mannington native, she has a bachelor’s degree in education from Fairmont State University and a master’s degree from West Virginia University. Her husband, Michael Stingo, is president of a union local at the Novelis plant.

Longstreth is a U.S. Army Reserve veteran — she served six years in the Army Reserves — and is vice chair of the Veterans Committee. Other committee assignments are Judiciary, and Health and Human Resources.

She sponsored the bill mandating a paper trail for voters using electronic voting machines. A coal miner’s daughter, she also successfully sponsored a resolution making Dec. 6, the anniversary of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster, as the state’s official “Miner’s Day.”

She backed a bill that allowed the Pierpont Community & Technical College to separate from Fairmont State University. Pierpont now has its own governing body, a move that should “help it define its identity and role,” she said.

Allowing 15,000 teachers to rejoin the state’s traditional defined benefit pension plan was a good move, she said.

She also supported a freeze on the state’s variable wholesale tax on gasoline. “We should save about 6 cents a gallon. It’s not much but it should help.”

Longstreth has also supported gradual reductions in the food sales tax, the corporate franchise tax and the corporate net tax.

Rick Starn, 55, and a former chief of the Fairmont Fire Department (2000-2003), is the lone Republican candidate seeking one of the district’s three seats.

“I believe in individual liberty, personal responsibility and laws that motivate people to be the most productive and best person that they can be,” he said. He now proctors tests for construction contractors seeking a state business license.

Citing state government’s surplus and the relative strength of its natural resource-based economy, he believes the time is right to make sure that the state emerges from the national economic downturn in a more competitive position.

“We need lower taxes, not just on food,” he said. He wants to immediately remove the food sales tax. “It would help a whole lot of people. We also need to streamline our business regulations.”

He cited the case of an ice cream vendor who has to pay for a county health permit in every county that he sells ice cream.

“If you have a healthy business in one county, you should be considered to meet public health regulations in all counties.”

Starn also favors more tort reform, citing “extremely high judgments against large companies” which send the wrong signal to firms wanting to relocate to the state.

“We also need more jobs for our young people,” he said. The state’s tax base will shrink because of the state’s aging population and that will threaten pensions for many retirees.

Starn is also concerned about the state’s growing dependence on gambling revenues. He is opposed to neighborhood video parlors.

A social conservative, Starn is pro-life and favors amending the state constitution to ban gay marriage.

He and his wife, the former Debra Trickett of Morgantown, attend the Trinity Assembly of God, where he has leadership responsibilities. They have two married children and six grandchildren.

41st House District

Delegate Ron Fragale, 58, is the House Speaker Pro Tem. He is running for his ninth term.

He is a member of the Rules Committee. Other committee assignments are Education, Agriculture & Natural Resources, Senior Issues and Enrolled Bills.

A retired teacher, Fragale was a physical education teacher and a basketball coach at the old Washington Irving High School and at South Harrison High.

“We’ve done a pretty good job of helping to increase the number of jobs in the state in recent years,” and lawmakers want to continue to spur economic development, he said.

“The bigger our tax base, the more money we will have for education,” and infrastructure, he said.

Delegate Sam Cann, 54, is seeking his eighth term in the House. A businessman, he is the past president of the Independent Oil and Gas Association.

He is a member of the Government Organization committee. Other committee assignments are Health & Human Resources and Veterans Affairs & Homeland Security.

He is active in the community, serving on the boards of the Watters-Smith Memorial State Park Foundation; West Virginia Special Olympics; the Heritage Bank of Harrison County and the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival.

Delegate Richard J. Iaquinta, 62, is seeking his fourth term. He, too, is a retired educator. He coached football at Bridgeport High and Robert C. Byrd high schools.

Iaquinta chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee. He also serves on the Finance Committee and Banking & Insurance Committee.

Delegate Tim Miley, 42, is seeking his third term. He is a lawyer in Clarksburg and an assistant majority whip in the House.

He is on the Judiciary Committee. Other committee assignments are Political Subdivisions and Banking & Insurance. He is president of the Harrison EMS.

Danny Hamrick is the lone Republican in the race. Despite several requests, he did not submit any information about himself or his candidacy.

E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com