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Former West Virginia Delegate Joins Constitution Party

Roger Conley, a former county Republican leader and one-term member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, said in a recent local interview that he has joined the Constitution Party. Conley, who represented the state’s 10th District from 2020 to 2022, originally made the switch last month.

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel first reported Conley’s departure from the Republican Party last week, noting that he officially joined the Constitution Party back in November. In an interview with the publication, Conley said the move was driven by his belief that the Constitution Party better aligns with his conservative values, adding that the Republican Party is not the conservative party that he wanted it to be. He accused the Republican Party of moving “more to the left” and described it as “no longer the party of Reagan.”

Conley served one term in the West Virginia House of Delegates after winning election in 2020 as a Republican in the 10th District, which was then a multi-member district. Following the 2021 statewide redistricting that replaced all multi-member districts with single-member districts, Conley ran for reelection in the newly created 11th District but was unsuccessful. Earlier this year, he ran in the Republican primary for Wood County Commissioner, where he came in second out of four candidates.

Conley also served as chair of the Wood County Republican Party from 2019 to 2022, a role he initially assumed after being appointed by the state party following the removal of the previous chair. Although the former chair was later reinstated after a lengthy legal battle unrelated to Conley, Conley returned to the position several months later after winning reelection to the party’s Executive Committee during the May primary election, which then chose to reappoint him. He resigned from the role later that year, citing personal reasons.

Conley’s shift also comes right as the Constitution Party of West Virginia gears up for its winter summit next month. The party will meet in Parkersburg, where Conley lives, to discuss its platform and organizing strategies for the year ahead.

According to promotional materials shared by the party, the event will include speeches from new members of the national and regional leadership, such as National Chair Justin Magill and Regional Chair Bob Goodrich, alongside those from state leaders, including State Chair Amy Stull and S. Marshall Wilson, its most recent West Virginia gubernatorial candidate.

One Comment

  1. Nuña December 20, 2024

    “He accused the Republican Party of moving ‘more to the left’ and described it as ‘no longer the party of Reagan.'”

    He’s not wrong.

    Reagan remains the least bad US president since Coolidge, but he wasn’t perfect by any stretch (e.g. on inflation, on three letter agencies). So ‘no longer the party of Reagan’ could in theory be a good thing. But in practice, the GOP has just gone further and further in the wrong direction since Reagan, to where they are now to the left of even his contemporary Democrat opponents.

    So welcome aboard, Conley.

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