Zach Shrewsbury says he'll be a voice for the working class

Jan. 26—fayetteville

The working class is getting left further behind, says Zach Shrewsbury, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. And that doesn't sit well with him — nor has it for a long time.

Shrewsbury, a 32-year-old Democrat in a crowded field of candidates running to occupy the seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Joe Manchin, was at The Freefolk Brewery in Fayetteville Thursday for the third in a series of events to mingle with members of the community and share his vision as the 2024 campaign cycle heats up.

Shrewsbury lives in Princeton, grew up on a farm in Ripley and went to high school in Monroe County. He also lived for a while in Fayetteville. He has five years of service in the United States Marines and has worked as a community organizer.

The U.S. Senate run marks his first time seeking public office.

"I've been a part of different political campaigns, but this is the first time I am a candidate," he said prior to Thursday's gathering. His reason for launching a campaign was pretty simple. "Being fed up," he said. "I was upset with Sen. Manchin and how he did things for a long time."

In Shrewsbury's estimation, the outgoing senator "ruined a lot of different legislation that could help West Virginia." He pointed to, among others, Manchin not supporting the Build Back Better Act, which "kept getting cut, cut, cut." He also lamented Manchin's opposition to keeping the child tax credit in place. "That's what really got me," Shrewsbury said. "Frankly, it just pissed me off. People needed that.

"So, I decided to go ahead and enter," he continued. "I planned this run for a while strategically. We looked at different options but always eyeballing Sen. Manchin. We figured he wouldn't run anyways. We approached it as either way, he's going to run or he's not going to run. We didn't change our tactics."

Shrewsbury said he would still be in the race even if Manchin chose to seek re-election.

What can Shrewsbury do differently to help West Virginians if he is elected?

"I'm the only candidate that's been door-to-door for years now, talking to people, seeing what they need," he said. "I don't care about their political ideology. I come to them and ask them, 'Hey, what's going on in your community? How can I help? What can we amplify?'

"And we can get into political discourse ... but at the end of the day, look at your roads, your roads are in disrepair. You're not getting a good enough paycheck to feed your family ... I understand that. I come from that. I've done it my whole life, and a lot of politicians can't say the same."

He considers himself the candidate for the working class.

"I understand how tough it is being a working-class guy. I understand how it is being in West Virginia. I joined the Marines because I had to. College was unaffordable, and the choice was between the mines and a minimum-wage job, and I chose the military."

Running for office is his current job, he said. "I do this every day."

When asked if he is scared about facing a field that includes current West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, Shrewsbury replied, "No. We came in ready to fight Joe Manchin. You ain't going to scare me about Jim Justice.

"I think if you give West Virginians the option between a national working-class candidate and a millionaire, they'll (take) the working-class guy, they'll pick the guy that's actually going to fight for them, that's going to shake things up in D.C. Jim Justice ain't that."

Shrewsbury says he doesn't mind the Socialist label assigned to him.

"I've had my beliefs for years, and I'm not going to back down from that. At the end of the day, I'll embrace it because that's what I've been doing for a while. If you're a Democrat anything from Joe Manchin to the left, you're going to be labeled a Socialist no matter what."

Shrewsbury has been impressing upon voters a platform that focuses on labor protections, universal health care and the addiction crisis, as well as racial justice, quality education and support for veterans.

"Right now, really trying to tackle the addiction crisis in West Virginia is one of the main ones," he said. "I mean, it all kinda goes together, really. That goes with the health care and the wages. Really, for me, the addiction crisis in West Virginia is at a critical moment."

The aim, he said, is to "invest in more humane approaches, more compassion. Engage in recovery, harm reduction, don't just throw people in jail and expect them to get better, give people records and putting them back out. With a record now, it's hard to get a job. It's just a cycle."

The Senate can do a lot better along many fronts, he said.

"Frankly, I think we need to allocate money differently. We allocate money heavily into the defense industry. I was a Marine, but a lot of the time that money is not going to the Marine. It's going to defense contractors, it's going to corporations, it's going to generals. It's not going to who actually needs it.

"If you could actually curtail a lot of that money, you could fund a lot of what I'm talking about. You could fund universal health care, for example. You could fund some of these projects that could help Americans and West Virginians."

"I see no working-class representation in our government," Shrewsbury said during his remarks to those assembled Thursday. Instead, he said, he sees "rich men ... who ignore us" and "corporate thugs who take advantage of us."

"We need to bring unions back to West Virginia and make them strong again," he stressed. "Advocate for yourself and your fellow workers. The job is not your friend. You're a dollar sign. You're easily replaceable."

Shrewsbury admits his is a "long-shot" campaign.

"We knew that coming in. I'm very much an underdog."

He also called it an "experimental" campaign in which he's playing by his own rulebook.

"If you want to shake up D.C. and you want real representation that will fight for West Virginia, that will fight for our economy and make the state better, that's me."

Danielle Walker, a former W.Va. House of Delegates member, delivered a fiery speech while introducing Shrewsbury.

"... we are the working people. We do the hard things," Walker said. "Remember that each and every one of you have Mother Jones in your veins, and I'm a transplant from Louisiana and I'm claiming her."

Walker said much more must be done to protect people in outlying communities such as Thurmond and Minden and throughout the state. She said it's time for people "to do your job" and "give pink slips to those who feel that your voice stops at the ballot box."

"Are you tired, West Virginians? Are you ready for change, West Virginians?"

"For generations, the people of this state have been taken advantage of, manipulated and exploited by our elected officials from both parties," said Kaylen Barker, communications and policy director for Shrewsbury's campaign. "They have lined their pockets on the backs of us and our ancestors, and we're tired."

To help the environment improve for the working class, the key is to "volunteer and donate to campaigns; we have to register people in our communities to vote, and we need to tell people about candidates like Zach," she said.

Pam Garrison, chair of the Fayette County Democratic Executive Committee, said, "We need people that are going to stand up and fight for us, that's not going to compromise us. We're tired of being the compromise.

"We've got good people that's going to stand and fight for you," she added. The path to a "brighter tomorrow" includes like-minded political candidates, she said.

A voter registration drive, during which citizens were provided the opportunity to check their current registration for accuracy, occurred during the Thursday event. Those in attendance at The Freefolk Brewery were also asked to bring donations for local animal shelters.

As of Friday morning, the other Democrats in the U.S. Senate race were former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship of Sprigg, who filed Friday, and Glenn Elliott, of Wheeling. Candidates can file by Jan. 27.

For more on Shrewsbury's campaign, visit www.shrewsburyforsenate.com.

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