By Fred Pace, The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Move over, older politicians. A teenager is running in the West Virginia House 26 Democrat primary May 10.
“As far as my age is concerned, I believe that qualification to hold public office should be based on competency and honesty with constituents, not sheer experience of more than two decades of life or knowledge of how to play the game,” said 18-year-old H. Kate White, of Huntington, a Cabell Midland High School graduate and current student at Marshall University. “Simply put, I am running for this office because I love the Legislature and our state. I would be most grateful for the opportunity to amplify the voices of people in my district after they have poured so much into me as I have grown up. The privilege of representing my district in the House of Delegates and my enrapturement with the legislative process are the two concordant reasons why I seek this office.”
White is running against Dr. Sydnee Smirl McElroy, 39, of Huntington, a family physician at Marshall Health, an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Health at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, section chief of Family Medicine at Cabell Huntington Hospital and co-host of the medical history podcast “Sawbones.” She is also a volunteer medical director at Harmony House, on the Harmony House board of directors, the Yeager Scholars board of directors and on the Cabell-Huntington Health Department’s harm advisory board…