Election Central
Moye ‘surprised, humbled’ by second-place finish
When the door opened on the black-and-yellow school bus early Wednesday, a little girl named Megan scrambled up the steps and immediately confronted driver Rick Moye.
“Wow!” she exclaimed. “Did you see how good you did?”
Moye did better than just good.
Not only did the political newcomer win a seat in the House of Delegates, but he outpolled two fellow Democrats with a lot of years of experience on the campaign trail — Delegates Ron Thompson and Virginia Mahan.
Moye placed second, right behind Linda Sumner, the lone Republican to win in Tuesday’s general election.
“It really surprised me, too,” Moye said.
“I’m really humbled by the outpouring of support I got. It was amazing. I had no idea how it was going to turn out. Everyone speculates on what’s going to happen. No one really knows. I didn’t know how (Massey Energy leader Don) Blankenship was going to factor in it. I didn’t have the money to spend like a lot of other candidates did. I just tried to work harder.”
Moye learned one valuable piece of campaigning early on — that Wal-Mart shoppers to a large degree tend to live in areas outside the 27th District of Raleigh and Summers counties.
“But mostly local people went to Kroger’s and Food Lion,” he said. “I went to a lot of businesses to catch people as they came out.”
Moye waited out the traditional suspense of a multi-candidate legislative race at the courthouse, then briefly attended a Democrat celebration party at the home of Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., another winner.
“I thought beyond any shadow of a doubt that God wanted me to do this,” the Crab Orchard man said of his decision to run.
“I give Him credit for what happened. I have to go with Him. Not being well known the first time I ran, I think His hand was up on the results.”
What does God expect of Moye?
“He hasn’t sent that memo, yet,” Moye said. “I haven’t gotten that one yet.”
For Moye, first light meant he had to be at one of his two jobs, picking up school children for delivery in Coal City. Along the route, parents gave him the thumbs-up gesture and waved in celebration.
“I like the kids,” he said. “I take the kids pizzas and sometimes a cooler of pop. God has been good to me, so I’m good to them. I will miss them for the 60 days in the Legislature, but I will not quit.”
After the school bus run, Moye moves on to his second job as a mechanic in his shop at Crab Orchard. His wife is a nurse in the critical care unit at Appalachian Regional Hospital.
“When it comes to moral issues, those are things I’m not going to waiver from,” the 49-year-old father of three said.
Moye campaigned on such themes as pro-life and support of the traditional marriage of one man and one woman.
“I know one thing I will do when I get down there — I’m going to vote my conscience,” he said.
“I’m going to vote in ways that I can live with. I don’t want to dislike who I am because of the way I vote. At the end of the day, I need to look in the mirror and like who I’m seeing.”
— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
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