A new candidate on the ballot for the West Virginia Democratic presidential primary gave President Obama a run for his money in the primary election. This new, relatively unheard of candidate by the name of Keith Judd received 41 percent of the votes in West Virginia, trailing Obama by just 18 percent. So what makes this so shocking? Keith Judd is currently a Texas prison inmate.
It’s evident that the President is less than popular in certain states, but the West Virginia results reveal just how unpopular Obama is with certain voters. In West Virginia, many voters came out to show their support for anyone who wasn’t Barack Obama. Keith Judd is still serving his sentence at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas. Back in 1999 Judd was arrested for making threats at the University of New Mexico. Apparently, West Virginia voters wouldn’t mind having the inmate run the country if it means getting rid of President Obama. Ronnie Brown, a 43-year-old electrician from Cross Lanes, had no problem admitting how much he disliked the current President. “I voted against Obama. I don’t like him. He didn’t carry the state before and I’m not going to let him carry it again,” Brown, who claims to be a conservative Democrat, told the Associated Press. When asked who he did vote for, he wasn’t even able to provide the candidate’s name. “That guy out of Texas,” Brown answered.
Jake Glance, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office, explained that after paying a fee of $2,500 and filing a notarized certification of announcement Judd earned himself a spot on the ballot. Judd received enough votes to qualify him for a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, but nobody has filed to be a delegate for the inmate, according to Democratic Party Executive Director Derek Scarbro. Scarbro went on to say, “The state party also believes that Judd has failed to file paperwork required of presidential candidates, but officials continue to research the matter.”
Of course, it should come as no surprise the President is unpopular in the country’s most conservative states, based on recent trends in other primaries. A Tennessee lawyer, John Wolfe, received about 18,000 votes during the Louisiana primary. In Oklahoma, Randall Terry, who is an anti-abortion activist, received 18 percent of the votes in the primaries. In Alabama, 18 percent of the voters decided they would rather be “uncommitted” before they would vote for President Obama.
The President’s unpopularity in West Virginia may not just be because it is a conservative state, however. West Virginia’s coal industry is very displeased with the President’s energy policies and the Environmental Protection Agency’s handling of mining related permits. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Senator Joe Manchin, two men who are very involved in the coal mining industry, have declined to say whether or not they will be supporting President Obama in November.
West Virginia GOP Chairman Mike Stuart is embarrassed by the entire situation. “Keith Judd’s performance is embarrassing for Obama and our great state,” says Stuart.
Ronnie Brown’s daughter, Emily, 22, went to the polls to vote for Judd, but changed her mind after realizing he was a prison inmate. This still wasn’t enough to get her to vote for Obama. “I’m not voting for somebody who’s in prison,” she said. “I just want to vote against Barack Obama.”
