What is WV Can’t Wait
Working West Virginians have borne too much for too long. No party or politician will save us. Only a movement can.
Three years ago a group of West Virginians got together to ask: what if the values of generosity and service and common sense that already guide our churches and neighborhoods also governed our statehouse? What if our land and water and wealth were invested into our own children, our own workers, our own entrepreneurs, instead of out-of-state monopolies? This should be our golden age, and it can be.
In three years time, WV Can’t Wait has built the largest electoral organizing infrastructure our state has seen in decades. With county teams in all but one of our 55 counties, 39 constituency groups representing seniors, veterans, and so on, and 107 candidates running under the WV Can’t Wait banner, our movement, three years in, is poised to take on the wealthy Good Old Boys Club and win.
At 197 Town Halls and through 11,000+ conversations with our neighbors, we asked: what would you do if you were Governor, or if you were Mayor, or on your Board of Education? Everyone we spoke to wanted bold change.
Together, we created a People’s Platform called the New Deal for WV.
That platform includes: Broadband for All, Prosecuting Corruption, Fixing our Roads, Full Cannabis Legalization, Cutting Healthcare Costs, a Workers Bill of Rights, a Mountaineer Service Corps jobs program. And more.
107 candidates ran on that very platform and now our first slate of WV Can’t Wait candidates has been elected into office! These 11 representatives from rural and small towns represent politics that aren’t controlled by corporate interests.
In today’s West Virginia, odds are that a kid you know will die young from a drug overdose. Odds are you know someone who can’t get safe drinking water out of their tap–maybe it’s you. A family that use to get by on one job now scraps to make it on three. If those of us lucky enough to have work, can barely make it on our patchy roads. Cannabis, a pain-easing drug, could be a real boon to our economy, but the few growers permits that exists are doled out to the wealthy and well-connected. And if you’re a public employee in this state, you’ve got to fight tooth and nail on a picket line, to get an ounce of respect.
We all know why: our wealth doesn’t stay here. It ends up in the pockets of out-of-state CEO’s and the politicians they own, from both parties.
The thing is, it doesn’t have to be this way.
We can have an economy and a government that works for all of us. If we take it.
It will take 1,000 leaders, not 1, to win a West Virginia that works for all of us. We are recruiting, training, and mobilizing 1,000 volunteers for the 2022 election cycle and beyond.
Want to volunteer? Sign up here to get the latest opportunities right in your inbox!
"West Virginians and our land have been sold out to the highest bidder for far too long. I volunteer with WV Can’t Wait because we the people of WV deserve to have our voices heard and have a seat at the table!"
"I joined WV Can’t Wait because the founders recognized WV’s potential when we elected politicians who worked for us instead of out-of-state interests. The amount of hope they have for the people of this state is contagious, so I gravitated toward the only political group taking this approach."
"Compassionate, strategic, brilliant organizers all over West Virginia are building people power in a state that has been written off by so many as a lost cause. At it's core, WV Can't Wait is an entire movement that showcases the best parts of Appalachia--people listening to stories, helping out their neighbors, and fighting for survival in a system that was created to work against us. It makes me hopeful for the future of our beautiful state."
"I volunteered with WV Can't Wait even while living in Colorado. This is one of the most incredibly organized slate campaigns I've ever witnessed. It's honestly one of the big reasons why I've decided to move back to West Virginia in the near future."
"As a WV educator, born from a long line of WV educators, I’m tired of the lack of support for our public schools who are functioning with little to nothing, while corporations get richer from taking our most precious resources out of state... our children. It’s time to invest in our schools, our educators, and our children. WV Can’t Wait gives me hope that this can happen."
"I support WV Can’t Wait because it is an organization that truly cares about every resident of the state. WV Can’t Wait and it’s supporters put more effort into inclusion and in being a voice for the masses than any other organization in the state."
"I jumped on board with WVCW early on! The message of working toward compassionate government constructed from the bottom up, and not from the top down, resonated with me through and through. I volunteered as a County Captain and recruited a team of hard-working, dedicated individuals who spent many hours building and forwarding the WVCW movement's platform. West Virginia deserves better. West Virginia needs West Virginia Can't Wait."
"WV Can't Wait has given me and countless others the tools to advocate for the best future possible for this state. I fight not only for my generation, but for all those who will come after me. This movement shows just how many people want to see a path forward for West Virginia."
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