Zach Shrewsbury

Last updated
Zach Shrewsbury
BornFebruary 10, 1991 (1991-02-10) (age 33)
Ripley, West Virginia, U.S.
Occupations
  • Community organizer
  • political activist
Political party Democratic

Zachary Shrewsbury (born February 10, 1991) is a native West Virginian, a United States Marine Corps veteran, a community organizer and political activist. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the 2024 United States Senate election in West Virginia. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and family

Shrewsbury was born February 10, 1991. He is native of West Virginia and comes from a working-class family. His grandfather was a coal miner, his father worked in sales, and his mother was a homemaker. [4] [5] He grew up on a farm in Ripley and graduated from James Monroe High School in Monroe County. He has said "College was unaffordable, and the choice was between the mines and a minimum-wage job, and I chose the military." He has lived in Fayetteville; he lives in Princeton. [6]

Military career and community organizer

Shrewsbury served five years (2010 to 2015) in the United States Marine Corps [4] during which he guarded the perimeter at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and was deployed to Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. [1]

After his discharge, he moved to Seattle, where he began his activism, but chose to return to West Virginia, despite the lack of prosperity he had seen in the U.S. and abroad. [1] He joined Common Defense [7] to rally fellow veterans against what that group calls “Trump’s corrupt agenda of hate” and “the entrenched power of greedy billionaires who have rigged our economy.” Shrewsbury has been an organizer for Citizen Action and the New Jobs Coalition.[ citation needed ]

2024 U.S. Senate candidacy

Shrewsbury for U.S. Senate
Campaign 2024 U.S. Senate election in West Virginia
CandidateZach Shrewsbury
AffiliationDemocratic
LaunchedOctober 15, 2023
Headquarters Princeton
Receipts US$75,576 [8]
Website
https://www.shrewsburyforsenate.com

On November 10, 2023, Senator Joe Manchin announced he would not seek re-election as Senator from West Virginia in the United States Senate. [9] [10]

Shrewsbury launched his candidacy on October 15, 2023, in Charles Town at the Jefferson County Courthouse where state authorities convicted abolitionist John Brown. [1] and on January 17, 2024, he officially filed paperwork with the West Virginia Secretary of State. [11] The primary election took place on May 14, 2024. [12]

Shrewsbury has said there is not "enough working-class representation in our government." [13] He supports the right to unionize and strong labor protections, universal healthcare, environmental justice, energy independence with an emphasis on renewables manufacturing, racial justice, progressive tax policies, abortion rights, as well as support for veterans and LGBTQ individuals. [14]

Responding to red-baiting, he told The Guardian : "If caring about working-class people, caring about people having bodily autonomy, water rights, workers' rights, makes you a socialist, then call me whatever you want. Doesn't bother me." [1]

Shrewsbury received the support of the Progressive Democrats of America. [15]

He finished second in the Democratic primary, behind Glenn Elliott but ahead of Don Blankenship, receiving 36.1% of the vote.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Stein, Chris (November 19, 2023). "Can a socialist ex-marine fill Joe Manchin's seat in West Virginia?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  2. ↑ Hall, Madison. "Can this Democrat actually win Joe Manchin's Senate seat in West Virginia?". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  3. ↑ Dan Kaufman, Dan Kaufman (May 9, 2024). "The Workingman and the Company Store...Can a progressive campaign break the coal industry's hold on West Virginia politics?". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Early, Steve (December 6, 2023). "Two Working-Class Candidates Launch U.S. Senate Runs". Labor Notes . Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  5. ↑ Early, Steve (December 7, 2023). "In West Virginia and Nebraska: Can Two Working Class Candidates Crash a Multi-Millionaire's Club in Washington, DC?". LA Progressive. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  6. ↑ "Zach Shrewsbury says he'll be a voice for the working class". Yahoo News. January 27, 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  7. ↑ "Zach Bio". Common Defense.
  8. ↑ "2024 Election United States Senate - West Virginia". fec.gov. Federal Election Commission . Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  9. ↑ "10 political races to watch in 2024, besides the presidential election". 98 Rock Online. May 14, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in West Virginia". AP News. February 11, 2021.
  11. ↑ Leith, Micah (January 18, 2024). "Shrewsbury officially files for US Senate". ABC WOAY. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  12. ↑ "2024 State Primary Election Dates". www.ncsl.org. Archived from the original on August 17, 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  13. ↑ Eden Villalovas, Eden Villalovas (November 13, 2023). "Early favorites who could succeed Manchin for senator of West Virginia". The Washington Examiner. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  14. ↑ Beard, David (November 30, 2023). "Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Zach Shrewsbury holds campaign kickoff rally in Morgantown". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  15. ↑ Coyne, Caity (May 10, 2024). "WV's Democratic Senate race includes a mayor, a populist and a protester • West Virginia Watch".
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