Chandler Swope speaks with Brenda Miller-Mann after officially announcing his candidacy for the West Virginia State Senate, Sixth District at his company’s Bluefield offices Wednesday afternoon.
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — Chandler Swope, a Bluefield-area businessman who built a business that was designed on building structures and infrastructure to last, has announced his intention to seek the Republican Party’s nomination for the 6th Senatorial District.
“I’m not nervous. I’m energized,” Swope said after making the announcement Wednesday afternoon at the offices of Swope Construction on Bluefield Avenue in Bluefield.
“When I was considering entering the race, I had to ask myself: ‘Can I do it?’ The answer was: ‘Yes,’” Swope said. “The second question was: ‘Should I do it?’ The answer to that question was also yes.
“The third question was: ‘Do I want to do it?’” Swope said. “Of all the public service I have been involved in with the Associated Builders and Contractors of West Virginia, the Greater Bluefield and Princeton-Mercer County chambers of commerce, chairman of the Bluefield Regional Medical Center board of directors, this would be my first run for public office. The answer to that question was also yes.”
Swope spoke with a group of people gathered in the Swope Construction conference room for the announcement. He joked that if anyone else in the room is surprised by the announcement, “You can’t be more surprised than me,” he said.
Swope said he believes in public service, but never thought he would be running for office until about a month ago when Delegate John H. Shott, R-Mercer suggested that he make a run for the seat in the Senate that will be vacant next year after Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer, runs for governor…
