‘Right things are right, wrong things are wrong,’ – Stephen Snyder’s no-nonsense campaign for House of Delegates

CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – U.S. military veteran and self-proclaimed non-politician, Stephen Snyder has set his sights on the West Virginia House of Delegates and has launched a no-frills campaign in pursuit of a legislative seat.

A current resident of Greenbrier County, Snyder spent much of his youth moving around from place to place before joining the U.S. Coast Guard and continuing his travels. Through summers spent with family in Wetzel and Marion County, the candidate developed a love for the Mountain State that ultimately brought him back on a full-time basis.

“I absolutely love West Virginia to my very core. But I never got to live here until I was able to retire from the Coast Guard and bring my family home,” Snyder tells LOOTPRESS. “Best decision we ever made – It’s just a phenomenal place and the people are amazing. We’re truly blessed to be back here.”

As a West Virginia resident, Snyder will be seaking the soon-to-be vacated seat of Republican Delegate, Todd Longanacre who represents Greenbrier County in the 47th district. With regard to intentions not to seek reelection, Longanacre has cited a term-limit pledge as having influenced his decision.

Not unlike Delegate Lonanacre, Snyder propounds the virtues of term limits, noting that he has already committed to a term-limit should his campaign be successful.

“I am a term limit sort of a guy. I have already signed my term limit pledge. It is notarized and laminated,” he said. “I do intend to go to the House floor with legislation to bring term limits to the legislature in West Virginia. I don’t think anybody needs to go there and stay until retirement. You should go with the purpose to get the job done and then you should come back and support the next person in line who wants to represent their community.”

With regard to the direction he has decided upon for his platform, Snyder points out matter-of-factly that he intends to implement a common sense approach to decision making and has no plans of selling out any time soon – an approach informed in no small part to the candidate’s own lack of political affiliation leading up the campaign.

“Somebody asked me what my platform was, and because I’ve never been involved in politics before, I thought about that for a second and I said, ‘this is pretty simple. I have a brain and a spine and I know how to use them both, and I will not sell my soul to the devil for anybody’s special interest of political action, committee, a lobbyist, or anyone else,’” he said. “‘The vote belongs to the people, and right things are right, wrong things are wrong, and money does not get to buy decisions.’”

The decision to pursue a seat has been a watershed moment of sorts for Snyder and his loved ones, according to the candidate. A moral obligation to right certain wrongs on the state level compounded by the departure of his son – who is pursuing his own adventure as a student at West Virginia University – have created an opportune scenario for the pursuit of a delegate seat.

“It has finally come to a point in my life that I just feel the responsibility for my generation to bring some of these issues to a close,” Snyder tells LOOTPRESS. “Let’s not talk about it anymore; let’s not kick the can down the road for another generation; let’s take some action and let’s get this done.”

As far as specific issues and points of focus, Snyder acknowledges the necessity of development on an economic level in order to attract and retain state residents.

“It’s critically important that we get economic development and jobs here that will bring our young people home, but let’s keep them from leaving to begin with,” he declares, noting that the job in question is ultimately about service to the State of West Virginia and service to one’s community.

“This is about service. This is not about self-service. This is about being the person that your friends and neighbors can go to and say, ‘Steve, we have a problem or an issue, and how do we resolve that?’ It’s not easy to be accountable to 18,000 people,” he says. “That’s a huge task. But you know, that’s what we’re signing up for.”

Currently, Snyder operates Scenic 40 Aerospace, a business in the Alderson area of Greenbrier County. He holds a master’s degree in Unmanned Systems from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – a specialty which he says entails everything from the Mars Rover to self-driving vehicles and small drones. He also utilizes his background as a community college educator.

Additional LOOTPRESS election coverage can be found here .