John Mandt Jr.: Business experience, transparency vital in House
Published Sat Jun 06, 2020 12:00 AM EDT

This is the last of a series of guest columns from candidates in contested races in the June 9 West Virginia primary election……….

My dad is my hero. He’s also my friend, and my mentor.

He taught me self-sufficiency with lessons that began at an early age. I learned life was both full of challenge and reward. The two were directly related in that the measure of one’s reward never exceeds one’s perseverance in facing challenges and overcoming them.

Understand, there were no “get out of work free” cards in our family business! You started early, often finished late and didn’t quit until the job was done. But the reward from working together as a team achieving a common goal is a life’s lesson I’ll always treasure.

Owning and operating one of Huntington’s oldest businesses still involves overcoming challenges, possibly greater now than ever before. But my experience has been God works more through my “availability” than He does through my “ability.” I’m resolved to seek Him as my strength, my fortress and my refuge. I don’t have all the answers, but I serve a God Who does!

I desire total transparency with my constituents. It’s important they know who I am and what I stand for. Leveraging the same passion that I’ve had my entire life for family, friends and business is my goal in representing you.

I’m often asked why I chose to become involved in politics. The answer is simply that I believe God has a schedule for me. I also know “to whom much is given, much is required.” My life has been centered around faith, freedom and Christian family values. Our founding fathers desired these values to be paramount in the growth and prosperity of our nation.

Sadly, government seems to be moving away from these guiding principles. We’ve progressively moved away from standards upon which our country has prospered and leaned more toward our own understanding, rather than God’s.

I have a passion for serving people and I’ve taken that passion to Charleston, on your behalf. Fulfilling my promises to the voters who elected me will never succumb to the fear of losing a vote!

My positions reflect the values of not only the majority of my constituents, but the majority of West Virginians. I believe in the sanctity of the unborn child. I believe in your right to keep and bear arms. And as a businessman, I understand what crushing government over-regulation can do to industry.

In my role as assistant majority whip, committee appointments as vice-chair Small Business and Economic Development and service on the Judiciary, I’m positioned and prepared to make a difference.

I’ve been endorsed by the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, the West Virginia Coal Association, the West Virginia Business and Industry Council, the West Virginia Chamber and the West Virginia Farm Bureau, to name a few.

But for us to make a difference, I need your vote. Together, we can ensure our region is an area people want to live, work, worship and raise a family.

Allow me to continue my service as your representative in District 16, Cabell County, in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

© 2020 The Herald-Dispatch