West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, left, Democratic candidate for Senate, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at the conclusion of a campaign rally for Tennant at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Shepherdstown, Monday.
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – An extremely well-attended political rally Monday for West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, featuring U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was ostensibly to unveil Tennant’s education plank in her campaign platform.
But several topics were covered contrasting Democrats and Republicans, summed up by the often repeated slogan “Vote for Main Street, not Wall Street.”
Held at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Shepherdstown, an estimated 400 people from the Eastern Panhandle and beyond attended the rally.
Tennant easily won the Democratic primary in May to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., who is not seeking re-election.
Tennant will face U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., in the general election. Capito handily won her party’s nomination in the primary.
Warren was elected to the Senate in 2012, defeating Republican Scott Brown, to become Massachusetts’ first female senator. She has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2016.
Warren has introduced several pieces of legislation in the Senate to reduce the interest on federal student loans.
Ashley Hall of Harpers Ferry introduced Tennant and Warren. She is in her third year of law school at West Virginia University.
“I had to take a loan for law school and I’m $73,000 in debt,” she told the crowd. “I’ll be $108,000 in debt by the time I graduate. Those loans earn $11.53 in interest every day. I don’t expect handouts, but students deserve lower interest rates on their student loans. We need a strong voice in the U.S. Senate. That’s why we need Natalie Tennant.”
In her remarks, Tennant defined the difference between Democrats and Republicans in the upcoming election.
“This race is not about me – it’s about you and it’s about students like Ashley,” Tennant said. “We need to invest in our greatest resource: people. I support Sen. Warren’s bill to lower interest rates on student loans. Today’s students are tomorrow’s workers and they must have the best tools to achieve success.”
Warren said that she and Tennant do not agree on every issue.
“But on the core issues, we agree,” Warren said during her remarks. “Our job is to fight for the families of America. I like Natalie. She’s strong and she’s ready to fight.”
Warren has supported the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and the Obama administration’s strict limitations on the amount of carbon that coal-fired power plants can discharge. Critics say the new limits will seriously hurt the coal industry of West Virginia. Tennant has criticized of the EPA’s and administration’s policies on carbon reductions.
Warren’s bill that would have reduced the interest on student loans made by the federal government has stalled in the Senate…
