Born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia, State Senator Evan Jenkins is no stranger to the Marshall University community and West Virginia. Evans was first elected to serve Cabell and Wayne counties in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1994, where he served three terms. In 2002, the people of Cabell and Wayne elected Jenkins to serve in the state Senate, where he is serving his third term.

Jenkins is running for against Democrat Nick Rahall in this year’s congressional election.

“Our country is heading in the wrong direction, and the leadership from this president has chartered a course that is devastating to the jobs in West Virginia,” Jenkins said. “This election is about a change of direction, not a change of pace. This is an opportunity to elect new leadership for West Virginia who will stand up to this president, and get our state working again so we can get moving again.”

Jenkins said he stands strong for the coal industry, and he won’t let the government eliminate one of the best industries West Virginia has to offer.

“The war on coal is real and has been devastating,” Jenkins said. “We have lost over 5,000 jobs in direct employment to the coal industry in just the last six years under the policies of Barack Obama, supported by our Congressman Nick Rahall. My plan will be to reign in the EPA and to make sure their over regulation of our coal fired energy generation is stopped so we can keep mining in West Virginia.”

Jenkins is also fighting big government to withstand carbon tax, which Jenkins said will sky rocket energy prices.

“We also need to make sure we go in and make sure we do not have a carbon tax that Congressman Rahall has voted in support of,” Jenkins said. “A carbon tax would be devastating to not only our coal miner’s, but also every West Virginian would see their energy rates sky rocket due to the carbon tax.”

The West Virginians in the coal mines aren’t the only people Jenkins represents; he also represents those in the classroom.

“Student loan debt is a crisis,” Jenkins said. “We know our economy came tumbling down because of the mortgage crisis in 2008. The student loan debt crisis, in certain respects, could be as big, if not bigger, than our house mortgage crisis. So, what we really need to do is tackle the student loan debt head on. We need to look at the Pell grant program and other ways to try to make college more accessible and affordable for all.”

Jenkins has worked to fully fund the PROMISE scholarship in West Virginia, a program that has enabled thousands of West Virginians to attend college.

“We need to keep programs like that in place,” Jenkins said. “As a parent of a college student today, and two on the way, I understand the issue of sky rocketing prices of college tuition. Tragically, the cost of college is being more and more shifted on the shoulders of our students, who are burdened with debt when they come out of college. We must reverse that trend and make college more affordable and accessible for everyone.”

Students of higher education aren’t the only students Jenkins cares about, as he expresses his vision for those in the lower parts of education.

“We see time and time again at the federal level—whether it be Race to the Top or No Child Left Behind—this big federal government idea of how they think education should be taught, and along with it, they put lots of regulations and limitations and essentially strings attached,” Jenkins said. “What we need to do is make sure we free up our schools and put some power in teachers, parents and administrators at the local level to take greater control in educating our students.”

Jenkins said health care should be reformed with a stronger focus on the patient’s needs, not the government’s interpretation of those needs.

“We need to start over,” Jenkins said. “We need to reform healthcare, but we need to do it with a patient-centered approach, not a big government approach. I am all about facilitating and promoting the doctor-patient relationship. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was just another example of big government deciding what they think is best. In this instance, it’s what they think is best in terms of healthcare. Obamacare needs to be fixed. Obamacare has caused tens of thousands of lost jobs, tens of thousands of people having their insurance policies cancelled because they don’t meet the big government defined essential benefit plans. Healthcare does need to be reformed.”

Election day is Tuesday and the polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Alex James can be contacted at [email protected].