Faith in Trump Remains for Many in Southern West Virginia

 

 

By Wendy Holdren

June 17, 2019 - As the 2020 presidential campaign ramps up, many southern West Virginians remain strong in their support for President Donald J. Trump. 

"He's rallied up the American spirit," said Ronnie Wood, co-owner of Flat Top Arms in Beckley. "It's obvious." 

 

Ronnie Wood

As 2020 contenders are stepping forward, Wood says, for him, there is no other candidate who could do what Trump has done for America. 

"This isn't about me or my business," Wood said. "President Obama sold guns much better than Mr. Trump does. I sell firearms and hunting stuff. Mr. Trump is very pro-that, but he doesn't create the fear or the anxiety in people."

According to data released earlier this year, the National Shooting Sports Foundation said 2018 firearm sales were down, with an estimated 13.1 million sold. In 2017, there were 14 million sold, and in 2016, there were 15.7 million sold. Fear about gun control laws under President Barack Obama, as well as uncertainty surrounding the 2016 election drove up sales. 

"I'm not voting my pocketbook," Wood said with a laugh. "I'm voting where my heart's at — where my mind and my heart and my soul's at."

Just a few feet away, a Flat Top Arms patron, Christopher Halvorson, said he, too, will be voting for Trump next year. 

"He's making America better," the 32-year-old Beckley resident said. "We don't need other people coming in, taking over what is ours."

Especially supportive of Trump's stance on immigration, Halvorson said it doesn't matter to him where the funds for "The Wall" come from, so long as it gets built.

"I am 100 percent for that," he said. "If I had the money, I'd fund it myself."

Halvorson's not alone. A GoFundMe campaign called "We Build the Wall" raised nearly $23.6 million within five months for the construction of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. A half-mile of the crowdfunded border in Sunland Park, N.M., is nearly complete, according to The Washington Post. 

Citing drugs, trafficking and criminal activity, Trump made an emergency declaration in February about the need for a southern border. The U.S. House filed suit in April to block Trump's plan to transfer $6.7 billion in federal funds toward the wall. One federal judge has rejected the suit, while another has temporarily blocked part of the plan "because it was using money Congress never appropriated for that purpose." 

Halvorson has been in the landscaping industry for the past year and a half. He said he hasn't seen any direct impact on his work since Trump became president, but he's seen friends become employed again. 

Wood said he's seen an increase in business at the shop from the influx of pipeline workers. Those workers have also supported his apartment rental business. 

"We really appreciate them," he said. "It helps us. They're good working people." 

Wood credits their presence in West Virginia to Trump's loosening of industry regulations. The New York Times recently detailed the rollback of 84 environmental rules under the Trump administration — 49 completed and 35 in progress. 

Halvorson further credits Trump's policies with improvement in unemployment. The U.S. Department of Labor recently reported the lowest unemployment rates (3.6 percent as of April) since 1969. 

A registered Republican, Halvorson said he hasn't always voted with his party. And he hasn't voted in every presidential election since turning 18.

But said he knows, "hands down," he'll be voting for Trump again. 

• • • 

About an hour and a half away, in Union, Mary Humphreys shares a different story.

The 67-year-old registered Independent says she doesn't vote for the party. She votes for the person.

And in 2016, she cast her vote for Trump. 

She was filled with hope by his campaign promises. She expected help from tax breaks. She expected help in the rural nooks and crannies of the state. She expected a better America.

"I thought he was going to bring about change."

But now, three years later, she feels like she was deceived. 

Humphreys was already retired when Trump took office, but when the tax cuts came into effect, she said her husband saw a $2 paycheck increase. And when income taxes were returned, they didn't get the amount they were anticipating. 

"We still got a tax return, but it wasn't nothing like it could have been."

Humphreys certainly wasn't alone. As the first federal returns arrived in February, NPR reported taxpayers were receiving smaller refunds than expected. The report said the average refund was down by about 8 percent from the same time last year, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

NPR said the reasons varied for smaller refunds, but for most people, it was because each paycheck grew slightly due to reduced withholding. "On balance, they are likely to come out ahead," the report said. 

Humphreys said she's watched businesses close in nearby Greenbrier County, namely ABB, Inc., a loss of 130 workers. 

And she's watched her home county, Wyoming County, where some of her siblings and their families still live, fall deeper into despair. 

"We see the harm that's being done in this state," she said. "Our state is hurting because of lies. And it is lies. If you’re a normal every day person, and you’ve got access to internet, you know this president isn’t what he should be."

Humphreys said Trump promised to bring coal back, but deep down, she knows coal is never coming back. 

"I don't live in coal country, but I'm from coal country. I go down there, and I look at that county (Wyoming), and the lies that's being told to them people — it's just unreal."

Forbes reported in January that even with the rollback in regulations by Trump’s EPA the past two years, the U.S. Energy Information Agency projects that U.S. coal consumption will decline 4 percent this year to 691 million short tons — down 44 percent since coal’s peak usage in 2007, and the lowest amount since 1979. 

Coal mine jobs have seen a small improvement since Trump took office, Forbes reported. In October 2016 there were 49,500 coal miners, which grew to 53,200, according to the Department of Labor's January jobs report.

Humphreys is critical of the pipeline jobs, too, as she says they're not filled by West Virginia workers. 

"I don't think he's done anything for the economy, and especially for West Virginia. This economy that he's talking about — It's Obama's economy." 

When asked who will receive her 2020 vote, she said, "Probably Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders." 

After a few seconds she added, "Or Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris." 

• • •

Another Wyoming County native, Peyton Brown, wholeheartedly supports Trump and the work he's done during his presidency. 

 

Peyton Brown

Brown previously shared her thoughts with The Register-Herald after Trump's first year in office. 

"I was happy with how the president had completed his first year in office, and now, I am still just as happy with him, if not more satisfied," Brown said.

The Concord University student is especially pleased with his tax plan, which she said one of her business professors called, "The Mac-Daddy of all tax plans."

"I've been very happy with his efforts in boosting the U.S. up to the higher end of the charts when it comes to energy production and fossil fuel production," Brown said. "This can easily be seen in the recent announcement of the new coal mine opening up in my home county, Wyoming County." 

Consol Energy Inc. announced plans recently to open a mine in Itmann by 2021. The company estimates employing more than 100 at the mine.

A March CNBC report said since Trump took office, coal mining employment has remained steady at about 51,000 to 53,000 nationwide. 

"Jobs, no matter the pay or area of work, are popping up all around, and more and more Americans are getting employed every single day, in every demographic," Brown said.

After she completes her undergraduate degree next year, she plans to pursue a master's degree. 

Also next year, she plans to proudly cast her ballot for Trump. 

"He’s placed hope in an area that needed it most, and boosted more than just our economy — our spirit," she said. "This doesn’t stop in our southern West Virginia community either. It’s all across the nation." 

 

 

This story was compiled as part of "Pulse of the Voters," a three-year project to gauge political sentiment in The Register-Herald coverage area. The Register-Herald participates with other newsrooms in parent company CNHI’s 23-state footprint.