04/14/2026
“Across West Virginia, similar mailers have been sent targeting solid, established conservative legislators and candidates. Many of these individuals have long records of supporting West Virginia values, working in their communities, and representing the people who elected them. Yet they are being hit with messaging that is, at best, misleading and, at worst, plainly inaccurate."
West Virginians are watching something unfold this election cycle that should raise serious concerns about honesty and outside influence in our state.
An out of state political action committee, the School Freedom Fund, is sending campaign mailers into West Virginia attacking Republican candidates. Public filings show the group shares a Washington, DC address with Club for Growth, a national organization with a long history of involvement in political races across the country.
One of their recent targets is Joe Eddy. A mailer claimed he supported tax increases in 2017. The problem is simple and verifiable. Joe Eddy has never served in the West Virginia Legislature. He was not in office in 2017 and could not have voted on that legislation.
That is not a matter of opinion. That is a matter of record.
Ryan Weld publicly pointed out the same issue. When a claim does not line up with basic facts, voters have every reason to question the credibility of the source behind it.
And this is not happening in just one race.
Across West Virginia, similar mailers have been sent targeting solid, established conservative legislators and candidates. Many of these individuals have long records of supporting West Virginia values, working in their communities, and representing the people who elected them. Yet they are being hit with messaging that is, at best, misleading and, at worst, plainly inaccurate.
At the same time, these efforts are working to boost candidates who are more closely aligned with national political organizations and outside priorities.
That contrast matters.
West Virginia voters should take note that Joe Eddy is not even running in Grant County, yet the same type of outside influence is being felt in races across the state. This is not about one candidate or one district. It is about a broader effort to shape West Virginia elections from outside West Virginia.
There is nothing wrong with participating in the political process. But there is a difference between participation and manipulation. When outside groups spend heavily on messaging that does not hold up to basic scrutiny, it raises serious questions about their goals.
West Virginians deserve better than that.
They deserve accurate information. They deserve campaigns based on real records and real issues. And they deserve to choose their representatives without being flooded by questionable claims from groups based hundreds of miles away.
West Virginia has always valued independence, hard work, and straight talk. Those values are not for sale.
And they should not be replaced by messaging crafted in Washington, DC.
West Virginia’s future should be decided by West Virginians, not by outside money and not by narratives that fall apart under the simplest fact check.
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