LOGAN, WV — Just 10 days after officially announcing and submitting his resignation from the West Virginia state senate, former state Sen. Richard Ojeda (D) dropped out of the presidential race on Friday.
“When I was a kid in grade school, my teachers always said that anyone could grow up and become president,” Ojeda said. “Unfortunately, what I’m starting to realize is that unless you have wealth, influence and power, it’s not gonna happen.”
On January 17, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) appointed Paul Hardesty, former president of the Logan County Board of Education, to fill Ojeda’s vacated seat.
In December, 2018, a CNN poll named more than 20 potential Democratic presidential contenders, but Ojeda was not included on the list. Ojeda, who retired from the U.S. Army, was elected to the state Senate in 2016. He defeated incumbent Senator Art Kirkendoll (D) in the primary, going on to win the General Election. In 2018, he ran for a vacant congressional seat (formerly occupied by Rep. Evan Jenkins), winning the Democratic primary; however, Ojeda was defeated by Republican Carol Miller, a former state delegate.
