On the issue of your query if Delegates should only respond to citizens within their legislative districts, it is true that many Delegates do this. This is simply because only voters in their districts have a say in their re-election to the House of Delegates.
However, elected Delegates take an oath of office to serve all the citizens of West Virginia and abide by Constitutional principles of governance.
To that end, Delegates who ignore the concerns of citizens outside of their voting districts are not fulfilling their oath of office.
Furthermore, to disregard the input and concerns of all the citizens of West Virginia marginalizes a Delegate's informational resources and, I think, makes him or her more likely to fail to defend essential principles of good governance as well as to fall prey to pandering partisan parochialism in their voting and advocacy.
Too many legislators run for and serve in office for the wrong reasons, such as personal aggrandizement and political power.
The purpose of serving in elected office should be to bring forth the optimum public good and to preserve the right and responsibility of individual liberty and personal accountability for all of us.
Doing that will benefit all West Virginians. That rising tide will lift all of our boats.
If legislators rise above partisan politics and adhere to principles of good governance, then regional squabbles also will diminish
and we all will prosper.
Delegate Larry D. Kump
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