MORGANTOWN – With the numbers on the May primary ballot for West Virginia’s 2nd congressional district all but in, it looked as if Ace Parsi was on his way Wednesday to securing the Democratic nomination for that contest.
But don’t look for the longtime Morgantown-based community activist and organizer to be declaring victory just yet, he said, the day after the primary.
“I’m confident and hopeful those numbers will hold,” Parsi said, “but I need to respect my opponents and the process.”
Parsi announced his run for Congress on Martin Luther King Jr. Day this past January.
As the vote counts were being tabulated Tuesday night, it became apparent that only for sure lock was going to be on the GOP side, as Republican incumbent Riley Moore was running unopposed.
Twenty-four hours later, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office, Associated Press and other sources, Parsi and Stephanie Tomana were separated by less than 800 votes for the lead on the Democrat side of the ballot.
Steve Wendelin, the third candidate mounting a run against Moore, was a distant third.
The vote remains unofficial until canvassing.
On the subject of counts, Tomana agrees with Parsi, she said Wednesday.
“Both of us owe it to our supporters and to the citizens to let democracy take its course,” she said. “It was a privilege and honor to run.”
POLITICS, PASSPORTS AND PERSONAL OBJECTIVES
Meanwhile, the trio of Democrats all brought diverse backgrounds to the race for the district that cuts a large swatch across the north-central tier of the Mountain State, including both panhandles.
Tomana, a lifelong resident of Marion County, hails from a family of educators and health care professionals. She teaches science at West Fairmont Middle School and has also launched two unsuccessful state campaigns for House of Delegates.
Wendelin, a California native who now makes his home in Hardy County, is a former U.S. Navy commander who spent 30 years in the service – including combat tours in Afghanistan.
Parsi, the presumptive front-runner on the Democrat side, personally knows the trauma and turmoil of crackling bullets and exploding shells in war zones.
He was born in Iran and was 8 years old when his family fled the revolution. At the time, one of his uncles, who was a pro-democracy student, had just been imprisoned there.
Parsi was an undersized kid who didn’t speak English when he first arrived. Caring teachers in school helped.
His family struggled economically at first. His mother took in sewing and did babysitting to bring in money to the household. His brother bagged groceries to help put food on the table. Lean as the times were, Parsi remembered, they were still better than what had been.
“You don’t know how precious these freedoms are unless you don’t have them,” he said. “My candidacy is my love letter to American democracy.”
THE RACE AGAINST RILEY
All three ran against what they see is political elitism – embodied, they say – by Moore and his family.
His aunt is Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia’s senior senator on Capitol Hill who also ran unopposed in the primary on the Republican ticket.
His grandfather was Arch Moore, the former West Virginia governor elected to terms on two separate occasions and who was both celebrated and reviled in equal measure in the state.
Moore’s family, Parsi said, is a metaphor for a ruling class that he said needs to be voted out of Charleston and Washington.
“West Virginia deserves better,” he said.
West Virginia, he said, deserves lawmakers who will show up and listen. That’s what he did during one memorable campaign stop recently in Wellsburg, Brooke County.
“I walked from one end of town to the other,” he said.
“I met Democrats, Independents, MAGA people … we listened and talked and got to know each other. That brings me hope.”
