Latest News, WV Press Videos

Fairmont coal miner attends Obama speech

FAIRMONT, W.Va. — With President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, a local congressman felt it was a perfect opportunity to give a member of his constituency a chance to view this firsthand.

For the State of the Union, representatives are allowed to bring one guest, and this year, U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., chose to bring Larry “Smokey” Gore, a coal miner from Fairmont.

 “What we’ve done the last four years, we’ve tried to bring someone in that is special back in the district and give them a chance to experience what’s going on at the State of the Union address,” McKinley said. “We’ve had two veterans. We’ve had the teacher of the year. This year we thought it would be special to have one of my favorite subjects, and that’s a coal miner.”

Gore is a superintendent at the Leer mine in Grafton and has worked nearly all his adult life in the coal industry.

“Since I’ve been 18 years old,” Gore explained. “I graduated in July and went to work for my dad maybe two months after that.

“I got the invite and have been very excited about it,” he said via phone Tuesday afternoon prior to the address.

For McKinley, the decision to pick a coal miner this year was not difficult…

Comments are closed.

West Virginia Press Newspaper Network " "

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

And get our latest content in your inbox

Invalid email address