Thread: Pro Gun 17 Year Old Girl Unseats Republican Incumbent

Pro Gun 17 Year Old Girl Unseats Republican Incumbent

By Steven Ahle on May 14, 2014 in BuzzPo

This is a big month for Saira Blair. Next week she graduates from high school and she may already have her first job. Saira defeated Republican incumbent, Larry Kump, in Tuesday’s primary for the House of Delegates in West Virginia. As soon as she trades in her cap and gown for her civvies, she has her work cut out for her. Saira did have one advantage. Her father is Craig Blair who once held the seat his daughter is running for and is now a state senator.

But lest you think this is just another candidate running on the fame of her successful relative, you need to hear her speak. She has definite ideas about what she believes and what she thinks needs to be done. She is a Christian, who is against abortion and is for gun rights. She is pro business and she can run off a list of business taxes she would like to see reduced or eliminated altogether.
Saira’s birthday is in July, so she will barely be old enough to serve in the legislature, should she win, which seems more than likely in a right leaning district. Her opponent, Democratic lawyer Layne Diehl, age 44, is careful not to criticize Saira other than to say they have differences on the issues. (article continues below)


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Saira will be attending the University of West Virginia in the fall, which could cost her some valuable campaign time, but she vows to spend the summer drumming up support for her candidacy. If she wins, she will skip the Spring semester. The WV legislature works from January through March and legislators earn $20,000 a year plus a per diem when she is in the state capitol.

Blair has attended political meetings since she was in the sixth grade and even passed up her senior prom to attend a Youth in Government meeting in Charleston.
Blair outspent Kump during the campaign and the low voter turnout probably helped her as well as the 400 students from her high school that waved banners to elect Blair on election day.
Kump was considered a bit eccentric. He sat in the back of the chambers with a little yellow, “Don’t tread on me” flag on his desk. He was also known to voice opposition to bills he considered an intrusion by the government with poetic verses of his own design.
Blair will be the youngest legislator ever in the state of West Virginia, beating the previous mark of 20, held by Larry Swan in 1972.
Saira’s strong stance on the second Amendment meshes well in her eastern panhandle district. Bloomberg’s worst nightmare, a pro gun teenager with a vote.
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http://buzzpo.com/pro-gun-17-year-ol...can-incumbent/

17-year-old high school student beats sitting W.Va. lawmaker in GOP primary

Published May 14, 2014
Associated Press
May 13, 2014: Saira Blair, a 17-year-old student at Hedgesville High School, waves to motorists along Route 9 in Hedgesville, W. Va.AP

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A week before her high school graduation, Saira Blair was barely old enough to vote when she unseated a West Virginia lawmaker almost four times her age.
After Tuesday's GOP primary, the 17-year-old is one election away from becoming the youngest state lawmaker in West Virginia history. Larry Swan, sworn in as a 20-year-old delegate in 1972, set the current record.
Blair's birthday is in July, so she would just meet the 18-year-old minimum age for West Virginia House of Delegates members. Seventeen-year-olds who will turn 18 by the November election can vote in West Virginia's primary.
Soft-spoken and on-message, Blair is a churchgoer who says she is pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun rights and pro-business. She can rattle off a laundry list of businesses taxes she wants abolished or lowered.
"People saw that you don't need to wait until you are 40, 50 or 60 to realize our conservative principles are beneficial to everyone," the Martinsburg teen said of her primary win.
Blair also has family experience on her side. Her electrician father, Craig Blair, is a state senator who once held the House seat she is seeking.
The teenager has more on her mind than stump speeches. She graduates from Hedgesville High School next Wednesday. Then she'll head to West Virginia University in the fall to pursue economics and Spanish degrees. She says finance is her field of choice.
Blair will skip spring classes if she clinches the Eastern Panhandle seat, since lawmakers convene for business in Charleston from January to March. The two-year House gig pays a $20,000 annual salary, plus per diem.
Only about 150 votes separated Blair from Republican Del. Larry Kump in the Eastern Panhandle primary, according to unofficial results. But midterm turnout was dismal: Only about 1,600 votes were cast in the 59th House District.
Friends in her high school class of 400 helped wave signs at polling places. She rallied some to register to vote. Blair also spent $4,900 and had a $2,300 loan, compared to Kump's $1,840 in spending.
"Quite frankly, she out-campaigned me," said Kump, 67, finishing his second House term. "It was a low voter turnout election and she won."
Blair's conservative platform meshes with her Eastern Panhandle community, a GOP stronghold filled with Washington, D.C., commuters.
Kump espoused his own brand of quirky conservatism. He sat in the Democratic House's back row with a yellow "Don't tread on me" flag on his desk. He occasionally tapped into his inner Dr. Seuss and delivered rhymes in opposition to bills he considered government intrusion.
He also wanted the Eastern Panhandle to return to Virginia, which Blair opposed.
Blair has attended GOP meetings with her dad since the sixth grade and volunteers with various groups. She skipped senior prom to participate in a Youth in Government meeting in Charleston.
"She has never had a curfew or anything like that," Craig Blair said. "As long as you're performing to the best of your ability, I don't make rules for her."
Blair's Democratic opponent, 44-year-old lawyer Layne Diehl, said that it's positive that the teen won the primary, despite their differing views.
"She certainly has taken on this challenge and I think that she's up to it," Diehl said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014...n-gop-primary/

17-Yr-Old Girl Who Wants to Actually Represent the People Just Unseated a Politician in W. Virginia

By Justen Charters 3 hours ago



Saira Blair, who just unseated an incumbent West Virginia state legislator, isn’t thinking about her plans for the summer. She’s thinking about how to defeat Democrat Layne Diehl come November. Because if Saira wins, it will make her the youngest legislator in West Virginia’s history- she’s just 17 years old.
Blair narrowly edged-out the incumbent, Republican state Delegate Larry Klump, by 144 votes. She campaigned on a straightforward platform:

• Pro-life
• Pro-gun
• Pro-family
• Pro-business
• Pro-jobs

Blair even gave out her cell phone number to any potential constituents who might want to ask her questions. In addition, Blair has pledged to run only a positive campaign.
When asked about her capability to fill the shoes of an incumbent lawmaker, Saira asserted:

“I think I’m fully capable of doing the job, and I don’t think it’s rocket science by any means — not if you just listen to the people,” …
“There are two types of politicians: those that think they know everything, and those who want to listen to the people and do what they feel, and I’ll be the (latter).”

That’s what being a representative of the people was all about before the government began abusing its power to take control of people’s lives and fortunes. Now, being a politician isn’t serving the public, it’s a career move with a highly lucrative payoff – depending on how corrupt you are.
Maybe it’s just being naive, but this young lady might be different.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/05/1385...nt-legislator/

Politics: 17-year-old Second Amendment champion takes down incumbent in West Virginia legislative primary


Image Credit: Saira Blair via Facebook

Published by: Dan Calabrese on Thursday May 15th, 2014

And she's favored in the general too.

She's too young to vote, but it does not appear that will keep conservative Saira Blair from being elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates. She showed something on Tuesday night by taking down the Republican incumbent in the primary, and now she takes her pro-life, pro-gun message up against the Democratic nominee in a very red district.
Blair is 17. She could not vote for herself on Tuesday, although she will turn 18 by Election Day. No matter what happens, she's already shown what she's made of:

Saira Blair will graduate from a West Virginia high school later this month. She posts photos of her smoothie habit on Instagram, volunteers at the Martinsburg VA hospital and helps raise money for the Make-a-Wish foundation. She will not be eligible to vote until July.
But on Tuesday, she beat a sitting state delegate who was seeking a third term in office.
With all 13 precincts in her Martinsburg-area district reporting, Blair beat state Del. Larry Kump (R) by an 872-728 vote margin.
Blair campaigned on an antiabortion, pro-Second Amendment platform, offering her cellphone number to constituents and pledging not to go negative.

Name recognition appears to have helped somewhat, as Blair's father is a state senator. Still, Blair is a pretty common name, and surely most of the voters had heard about her age and the unconventional nature of her candidacy.
I have no idea if this means the establishment is getting the message, but it certainly looks like the farm system is promising. Congratulations, Saira, and good luck in November!

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http://www.caintv.com/17-year-old-second-amendment-c