1. United States
2. W.V.
3. Letter

I watched your debate with Ace Parsi, and your attitude toward the constituents who protest outside your office reminded me exactly why I did not vote for you. Your condescending and dismissive remarks about protesters, particularly your repeated insinuations that these individuals don’t have jobs, were insulting. Many of these people work, support families, volunteer in their communities, and still make time to exercise their constitutional rights. Their participation in democracy should be respected, not ridiculed. You speak endlessly about protecting Second Amendment rights, yet you appear irritated when your constituents exercise their First Amendment rights. You cannot claim to champion constitutional freedoms while treating peaceful dissent as a personal inconvenience. Your office belongs to the people you represent. When constituents feel they cannot access their elected representative or have their concerns heard, protesting outside becomes one of the few avenues left to them. What troubles me most isn’t simply that I disagree with your policies or voting record. It’s the contempt I perceived in the way you spoke about the people you’re supposed to serve. Constituents are not nuisances. Dissent is not disrespect. And holding public office does not make you superior to the people who put you there. You don’t have to agree with me, and I certainly don’t agree with you. But you have an obligation to represent all West Virginians in your district, not just those who share your politics. I expect better from someone entrusted with public office. Your conduct during that debate only reinforced my decision not to vote for you.