April 4, 2006
 
KIM WOLFE Q&A: Cabell County Sheriff Thinks He Could Represent Residents of Southern WV Better Than Incumbent
 
By David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network
 
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Cabell County Sheriff Kim Wolfe looks every inch the veteran law enforcement officer in his sheriff’s uniform as he settles into his chair in his office in the Cabell County Courthouse. He’s just back from a Rotary meeting – he’s an active Rotarian – and his 1 p.m. appointment is with the editor of Huntington News Network.
 
A retired Huntington police officer, Roger Kim Wolfe – he uses his middle name – is halfway through his second and last term as sheriff. It’s the only countywide elected office with term limits and questions the wisdom of singling out the sheriff of a county for term limits. He starts out by saying that the sheriff is the top vote getter in most counties, so there might be an element of envy on the part of other elected officials.
 
“Either have term limits for everybody or nobody,” is the 57-year-old lawman’s view. He’s seeking the Republican nomination for Congress from West Virginia’s Third District, which includes the state’s southern tier of counties from Kentucky on the west to the Virginia border on the east. His opponent in the May 9 primary is Mercer County businessman Marty Gearhart, who lost to incumbent Nick Rahall, D-WV, in 2004.
 
HNN: Why did you decide to run for Congress?
 
Wolfe: My wife and I looked at the choices available for a person who still feels he has a lot to offer in terms of energy and service to the community. I certainly could run for another office in Cabell County in 2008 – and probably get elected, but I decided to seek the GOP nomination for Congress instead.
 
HNN: You know you’re up against a formidable opponent who was first elected to Congress 30 years ago, when Gerald Ford was president – the same dayJimmy Carter was elected.
 
Wolfe: The congressional office, more than any other office, should represent the people. Is this being done with the incumbent? I think not. That’s why I decided to run for Congress.
 
HNN: Give me some idea of your background.
 
Wolfe: We grew up on a hardscrabble farm, poor, but we didn’t know it. My father, Carl Wolfe, was a laborer and my mother was a homemaker. We have roots going back hundreds of years in Virginia and later West Virginia, as well as Kentucky. My great-great grandfather was married in Monongalia County, VA in the 1830s. My grandfather, born in the 1880s, was a carpenter and he came to booming Cabell County to find work. I have a great uncle who’ll be 104 this year who has memories of growing up in Kentucky, which was part of Virginia until it became a separate state – long before his time, of course. They had large families in those days because so many died in childhood.
 
HNN: How about your mother’s side?
 
Wolfe: Mary Jane Wolfe is a Thompson; they came into Putnam County in the late 1700s. The name Wolfe makes you think of German background, but my dad told me it’s really Welsh and maybe some Irish. Our family has a lot of red-headed, stocky, really Irish looking people.
 
HNN: You say your wife Deborah influenced your decision to run for Congress. Could you expand on this?
 
Wolfe: Deb was talking to a congressman in Utah and the subject of genealogy came up. He suggested I read a book called “Born Fighting” by James Webb, a history of Scotch-Irish in America. Most of the immigrants of Scotch-Irish background – Protestants to a man and woman – came into the Appalachian region. They have four basic characteristics: First, they’re clannish, with strong family ties. Second, they’re patriotic, from fighting the British in the old country, to fighting in all the wars of this country, on both sides in the Civil War, even. Third, they have a strong religious faith. Fourth, they’re stubborn as Hell! If they like you, if you get on their good side, they’re a friend for life. This Utah congressman said “Your husband may not win this election, but they won’t beat him. They may beat him, but they won’t beat him.” He wanted me to get that perspective, so that I could identify with the large percentage of people in the Third District.
 
HNN: Are you referring to the Middle Eastern origin of Nick Rahall?
 
Wolfe: I want to make this perfectly clear: I’m not raising the ethnic origin of Rahall, just stressing my own ties to this district. I have nothing against people of Arab background.
 
HNN: What’s your view on the role of government, especially Congress, for the district?
 
Wolfe: Government’s first priority is to protect your liberties. Why is this Third District continuing to lose jobs and workers, even compared to the other two districts in the state? We have a work ethic, but something is taking place in this district to produce an exodus of workers – something that doesn’t happen in Kentucky and Virginia to this extent. One reason is the automation of coal mining. Speaking of mining, Don Blankenship of Massey Energy told a group that I attended that he’s spent millions of dollars for coal related supplies and equipment – but he can’t buy it in West Virginia. He told us: “I got to go to Alabama, Pennsylvania, Virginia.” Why can’t these companies come to West Virginia and provide work for people in this part of the state.
 
HNN: Toyota has been very successful in Putnam County, building engines and transmissions.
 
Wolfe: It’s changing, with tort reform and other measures, but a lot of companies don’t feel welcome in West Virginia, despite the work ethic of the people. I applaud Gov. Joe Manchin for his efforts to make the state friendly to business. In fact, I think he’s one of our better Republican governors!
 
HNN: You mean he’s a DINO, a Democrat in Name Only?
 
Wolfe: It’s slowly changing, but the problem for many years is people voicing the feeling “What is government going to do for me?” When you get in that mentality, the end result is this: If government is so big that it can provide everything you need, it can take away everything you’ve got. I’m hopeful that, statewide, a lot of the changes under Manchin – tort reform and workers’ compensation – are going to make things better for job growth, but it will take time.
 
HNN: It’s my view that West Virginia has a reputation of being a high tax state, keeping out all but the most determined employers, like Toyota. Is that your view?
 
Wolfe: I would be in favor, on the national level, of either a Fair Tax [advocated in a 2005 book by Georgia Congressman John Linder and radio talk show host Neal Boortz] or a flat tax, to go back to the basic Ronald Reagan approach of letting the people spend their money, not the government. Our current tax system is such a complicated nightmare. You shouldn’t have to pay someone to do your taxes, they way most people do – because it’s so complicated.
 
HNN: Have you been a Republican all your life?
 
Wolfe: I come from a long line of conservative Southern Democrats. The only thing my dad and I disagreed with – he was a strong conservative Democrat – was the history of Republicans in the South and Middle Atlantic states. Most West Virginia Democrats are conservative, which is why Republicans are doing so well in the state and why we already have a Republican congresswoman – Shelley Moore Capito – in the Second District.
 
HNN: When you returned from military service with the Navy in Vietnam you were still a Democrat?
 
Wolfe: I was a Democrat and I started at Marshall on the G.I. Bill. That was about 1972 and Nixon was President. I had plenty of liberal teachers, but I was getting back to my conservative roots. I even voted for Jay Rockefeller for governor, so I was still a Democrat. I began studying the platforms and switched parties.
 
HNN: You not only changed parties, you changed religions. You have an unusual religion for West Virginia. I understand you converted to Mormonism when you married Deb, your second wife. Will this be an issue in the election? I understand a lot of fundamentalist Christians have strong negative feelings about Mormons.
 
Wolfe: I don’t wear my faith on my sleeve; I don’t make an issue of it – and I don’t hide it. I have support from Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists. I was on a talk show with Steve O’Brien in Beckley when a woman called in to say “I understand you’re a Mormon.” I told her: “Yes, I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.” She responded by saying: “I think we should have a Christian representing this district.” Steve O’Brien did a good job of handling it. If it’s a problem with a particular person or sect, I can’t do anything about it. It’s not a problem for most people in our diverse district.
 
HNN: Many Republicans are highly critical of Amtrak and Essential Air Service subsidies for interstate rail passenger service and small town airports, respectively. What’s your view on these relatively small federal subsidies, especially compared to the billions we’re spending in Iraq?
 
Wolfe: I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t continue subsidies for services that are working and provide access to West Virginia in an era of rising gasoline prices. We need all the transportation in and out of the state we can get.
 
HNN: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us.
 
Wolfe: You’re very welcome.
 
Web site: http://www.kimwolfeforcongress.com