Richard Ojeda Delivers What Democrats Want -- A Fighter

Richard Ojeda

 

The DCCC added the 9th Congressional District to its "Districts to Watch" list all the way back in August, but I didn't wake up to the flip possibility until Thomas Mills highlighted Democrat Richard Ojeda as a comer a couple of weeks ago. I've actually been following Ojeda for years on social media but hadn't paid attention to his candidacy for Congress. Ojeda's a very verbal critic of hypocrisy and malfeasance. He projects an intensity of integrity. That, combined with a born-to-the-plow appreciation for the working class and for rural people, helped him get a West Virginia Senate seat in 2016. He's what my father would have called feisty. And by all (social media) appearances, he's giving this campaign all he's got. Against incumbent Richard Hudson.

Hudson rose in Republican ranks as a party operative. He worked for GOP Chair Robin Hayes for some four years (before the arrest and sentencing) and then became Virginia Foxx's first chief of staff. He went on to work for a couple of Texas Republican congressmen before coming back to NC with a wealth of political know-how, to run for Congress successfully against Democratic incumbent Larry Kissell in 2012. Hudson has been easily reelected six more times (in fluctuating districts, because gerrymandering) and rose this year to head the NRCC -- making him the chief congressional candidate recruiter. In any other year Hudson would seem invulnerable.

This is not any other year.

Richard N. Ojeda II is a retired U.S. Army major, educator, and longtime social-media political commentator. He served 24 years in the Army, including deployments to Korea, Honduras, Jordan, Iraq, Haiti, and Afghanistan, and served as a paratrooper before retiring as a major. He won his WVa Senate seat with almost 60% of the vote, in the heart of the southern coalfields. He's firmly of a place and one of the folks. As a state senator, he became nationally known for his outspoken support of West Virginia teachers during the 2018 teachers' strike, advocating higher teacher pay and improved public-school funding.

In 2018, Ojeda ran for Congress in West Virginia's heavily Republican 3rd District. Although he lost to Republican Carol Miller, the campaign made him a nationally recognized Democratic figure, particularly because of his working-class, pro-labor message and unconventional personal style. He subsequently made a brief run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, thought better of it, and stopped.

Since then, Ojeda has maintained a substantial social-media presence, regularly releasing direct-to-camera videos on politics, government, veterans' issues, working-class concerns, and current events. The message in every one: "I'm your fighter. Send me."

This is the video message Ojeda made for DJT after the president threatened to mobilize troops against Minnesota many months ago: 

https://www.facebook.com/RichardOjeda2020

https://ojedafornc.com/

https://www.instagram.com/ojedafornc/

https://x.com/ojedafornc

https://www.youtube.com/@OjedaforNC

 

Democratic Populism and Richard Ojeda

I agree with Kyle Kulinski: If Richard Ojeda actually makes it to a Democratic presidential debate stage, "Better watch out!"

Ojeda is carrying Bernie's message 2.0, and it's the message the Democratic party needs to embrace.

We Haven't Heard the Last From Richard Ojeda

Former Army Ranger Richard Ojeda, who got elected to the West Virginia Senate in 2016 and rose quickly as a vocal advocate for underpaid West Virginia teachers, jumped into the race early this year for the 3rd West Virginia Congressional seat. The district had been held by a Democrat for almost 40 years but had drifted into the Republican column during the administration of a black man in the White House.

We noticed Ojeda as a rising star back in June and liked his rough edges and his ironman persona, as well as his chances for flipping that seat for the Democrats. In July, elections prognosticator Larry Sabato moved the West Virginia 3rd to "toss-up" status.

It didn't happen. In fact, Ojeda really didn't come that close, taking only 43.59% of the vote against a weak-looking woman who had bragged that she always prays before each vote.

Now Ojeda has announced he's running for president of the United States. He's a working man's working man, and his advocacy for better teacher pay endeared him to thousands. Realistically, maybe he doesn't have a ghost's chance, but he's exactly the kind of dirty fingernails Democrat that we need to overthrow the money-changers and return the Republic to the people.

He's the kind of Democrat who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, buying a bill of goods that turned out to be fake. And he regrets it. “It’s been a friggin’ circus for a solid year,” Ojeda told Politico magazine. “All [DJT] has done ... is shown that he’s taking care of the daggone people he’s supposed to be getting rid of.”

Just yesterday, Ojeda said this about Trump: "Let me tell you something: He's got to stop with the hate. Just think about this, it's Veterans Day, and because it's cloudy, he chose not to go Arlington Cemetery and pay his respect. This is a person who'd fight with NFL players for not standing for the national anthem, but he doesn't pay his respect to people who have given their lives for this nation. He travels across middle America and stands in front of people with no awareness of what their lives are like."

Ojeda defended his decision to run for president to Dave Weigel in today's WashPost: "I am the person who can get people who voted for Trump to come over, because I relate to them. The majority of people who'd throw their hat into this ring are cookie-cutter politicians. Many of them will be very wealthy. And I'm sorry, the majority of people are starting to realize that those people don't relate to them. Those people have no concept of what life is like for them, what life is like for the parent just trying to put food on the table."

Ojeda on Nov. 6,
after conceding the election

He practices a stiff-arm honesty that is not characteristic of most men who want to be president: "I am the person who can get people who voted for Trump to come over, because I relate to them. The majority of people who'd throw their hat into this ring are cookie-cutter politicians. Many of them will be very wealthy. And I'm sorry, the majority of people are starting to realize that those people don't relate to them. Those people have no concept of what life is like for them, what life is like for the parent just trying to put food on the table."

More Democrats need to talk like that, but you have to think like that first, you have to come from neediness rather than cushiness.

Here's what Ojeda says about coal mining in his home state (remember that Twitterman told coal miners he was going to save them): "I'm not going to lie to coal miners. Coal mining will never ever be the way that it used to be. I believe there is a need for metallurgical coal, to rebuild our infrastructure and our military might, but coal is not going to be something that can sustain people, and that will come sooner than later. We need to be honest in areas that rely on coal, so we can transition those coal miners into something else. And it's got to be more than minimum-wage goals. You can't take someone who's making $90,000 a year and tell him he's going to be making $22,000."

I'm glad Ojeda will be part of the debate. As far as I'm concerned, he's exactly what Bernie Sanders has been hoping for.

Richard Ojeda in West Virginia

One of the stand-out Democratic stars we've been following for months, Richard Ojeda (pronounced Oh-jed-a), getting the star treatment in the WashPost:

Movement Is All in the Democratic Direction

Political prognosticator Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia issued new Crystal Ball ratings yesterday. They show movement, and all of it is in the direction of the Democrats. Here's the chart I found most interesting because we've focused on WatWatch on some of these Republican incumbents and their Democratic challengers. See discussion below the chart.

Crystal Ball House ratings changes

Member/District	Old Rating	New Rating
French Hill (R, AR-2)	Likely Republican	Leans Republican
Vern Buchanan (R, FL-16)	Likely Republican	Leans Republican
Charlie Crist (D, FL-13)	Likely Democratic	Safe Democratic
Steve King (R, IA-4)	Safe Republican	Likely Republican
David Young (R, IA-3)	Leans Republican	Toss-up
Peter Roskam (R, IL-6)	Leans Republican	Toss-up
Trey Hollingsworth (R, IN-9)	Safe Republican	Likely Republican
Jackie Walorski (R, IN-2)	Safe Republican	Likely Republican
Andy Barr (R, KY-6)	Leans Republican	Toss-up
Mike Bishop (R, MI-8)	Leans Republican	Toss-up
NM-2 Open (Pearce, R)	Likely Republican	Leans Republican
Steve Chabot (R, OH-1)	Leans Republican	Toss-up
OH-12 Special (Tiberi, R)	Leans Republican	Toss-up
Mike Kelly (R, PA-16)	Safe Republican	Likely Republican
John Carter (R, TX-31)	Safe Republican	Likely Republican
John Culberson (R, TX-7)	Leans Republican	Toss-up
WV-3 Open (Jenkins, R)	Leans Republican	Toss-up

*The movement in notorious Steve King's 4th Iowa District might startle the horses, unless you've been paying attention to his Democratic challenger J.D. Sholten. We wrote about him on June 16.

*Andy Barr's seat in Kentucky's 6th District has moved to a toss-up between him and Amy McGrath, about whom we've written several times. She's one of the stand-out stars of 2018.

*In the 12th Congressional District of Ohio, with a special election coming on August 7 for an open seat, Democrat Danny O'Connor is now rated a toss-up to take the seat.

*The movement in John Carter's Texas District 31 is especially noteworthy, because one of the most electrifying Democrats we've observed all year, M.J. Hegar, is getting national attention with her introductory video.

*John Culberson's 7th Congressional District in Texas is now rated a toss-up. We took quick note of his Democratic challenger Lizzie Pannill Fletcher way back on December 19 of last year. She's obviously making waves.

*Finally, the open seat in West Virginia's 3rd District is suddenly now a toss-up. We took notice of the Democratic challenger, Richard Ojeda, on June 19. There hasn't been a viable Democrat in that district of West Virginia in many years.

If a Democrat Can Win in West Virginia...

The Cook Political Report rates the 3rd Congressional District of West Virginia as "Likely Republican." Some 72% of the district voted for Trump. But other things have also happened, and the upshot is that more people should be watching the rise of Democratic state Senator and career Army man Richard Ojeda (pronounced "Oh-jed-ah") who won the May 8th Democratic primary with over 50% of the vote against three other candidates, and who could very well make Flippity-Flip in November.

He's tough. And tattooed. Brash, even. He's a soldier's soldier. He trained as an Army engineer, and as a Captain he commanded the 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat-Airborne) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2010 and now holding the rank of Major, Ojeda volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan as a combat advisor with the 10th Mountain Division in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, where he mentored over 1,200 Afghan Police.

He first ran for the West Virginia Senate in 2014. He became an outspoken critic of majority Republican policies, especially labor laws and the treatment of public sector employees. This year, he became a great champion of the state's striking teachers. But let him tell it:





Hell, he voted for Trump in 2016 and now regrets it. “It’s been a friggin’ circus for a solid year,” Ojeda told Politico magazine. “All he’s done ... is shown that he’s taking care of the daggone people he’s supposed to be getting rid of.”

The Primary Statistic

Carol Miller

Ojeda's Republican opponent in November -- it's an open seat -- will be Carol Miller, a member of the State House from Cabell County. She wants everyone to know that she's always prayed before voting on every single bill, and she will bring that sanctified habit to the U.S. Congress with her. Otherwise, she's a sock puppet Trumpian.

The 3rd CD is actually majority registered Democrat, but they've been voting Republican since the first Bush, motivated by guns, God, and abortion. A Democrat inoculated against at least two of those taints might convince coal country men to think about other stuff for a change, like the advantaging of the 1% over everybody else. (Footnote: Ojeda has a pro-choice voting record in the WVSenate.)

The 3rd CD is majority Democrat, so perhaps naturally, more Democrats turned out to vote in the primaries on May 8th, but the numbers that Ojeda drew, compared to Carol Miller's vote total, are pretty striking:

29,837 -- total votes for Ojeda

8,936 -- total votes for Carol Miller

That looks like a wave to me.