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Hartzog

PARKERSBURG – An incumbent legislator who chairs the West Virginia House of Delegates Finance Committee faces a challenger in his bid for another term representing District 12.

Del. Vernon Criss, R-Wood, and fellow Parkersburg resident Charles Hartzog are running in the Republican primary Tuesday. The winner will take on Dennis V. Rempel, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary, in November.

The Republican nominations for all legislative races in Wood County – the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Delegate Districts and the 3rd Senatorial District for both the full and unexpired terms – are contested this year.

The 12th District includes north Parkersburg and surrounding areas.

Criss is seeking a sixth consecutive two-year term in the House. He previously served in the House from 1987 to 1990 before being elected again in 2016.

Criss

Criss, a businessman, cites his experience. In addition to chairing the House Finance Committee, he is a member of the Rules Committee, chairman of the interim committee on Finance and serves on the interim committees for Economic Development, Government and Finance and Special Investigations.

Criss said the Legislature over the last 10 years has put around a billion dollars into infrastructure in West Virginia for roads, water and sewer in all parts of the state. The Legislature restored budget cuts proposed by the governor for water and sewer, he said.

“We are concerned about trying to get our infrastructure rebuilt,” Criss said.

Much of the funding, including for maintaining needed social programs benefiting residents, has come from eliminating programs that haven’t worked and keeping those that do, he said.

The state also fully funded the Hope Scholarship, provided relief on taxes on Social Security and personal property taxes, restored cuts to higher education and cut income taxes while keeping West Virginia financially sound, he said.

“These are all the things we care about because we have been able to work together as a team with the Senate,” Criss said. “I’ve been a big part of the negotiations with the Senate to keep our house in financial good order.”

Criss and his wife, Virginia, have four children and 10 grandchildren.

Hartzog, 23, said he is running for the House because the district needs “a real conservative.”

“I will always support and defend the Hope Scholarship Program because I believe our kids deserve every opportunity to succeed and have an education built for them,” he said, referring to the state program that gives parents the option of using an equivalent portion of the per-pupil expenditure for their children from the state School Aid Formula for educational expenses such as private or religious school tuition, home school, tutoring and learning aids.

“Funding for our children’s education should always follow the student,” he said.

Hartzog, who works overnight at Walmart, also said he will “defend the unborn, cut government red tape, support free market principles and fight for reforms in rural health care that drive down costs for families.

“I believe West Virginia can become the best place to live, work and raise a family,” he said.

Contact Evan Bevins at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com and Jess Mancini at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com