Natalie Tennant is running for West Virginia Secretary of State in the Democratic Party primary. She spoke with The Observer about politics, funding state government, and her candidacy for one of the state’s top jobs.

Tennant grew up on a farm in Fairview, W.Va., the youngest of seven kids. Her father was a farmer with 150 acres and 50 head of cattle. He was also an educator, serving as principal of Fairmont Junior High School. Her mother returned to school to complete her education after Natalie was born, and also became a teacher. Natalie has five brothers and a sister—five of whom are teachers, for a family total of seven teachers.

OBSERVER: Where did you go to school?

TENNANT: I went to WVU. I applied to become the Mountaineer mascot. I had to write an application essay and was interviewed by Mountaineer honorary students. We then had a cheer-off, me and Doug McClongh. We even shared an outfit! I was up first, I had to roll up the pants because I was too short. Word got out there would be a girl trying out and people got there early. Some people yelled at me: “Go back to the kitchen,” and “Go make babies!” I got the position. I was the first and only girl mascot in WVU history.

They continued to yell at me, they threw things at me, wrote nasty letters at both home and away football games. Some of them booed me till the day I left. That helped to shape me. When you are spit on and they call you names you learn how to survive.

OBSERVER: How did you meet your husband, West Virginia Sen. Erik Wells?

TENNANT: We worked at competing television channels. He worked at Channel 5, I was at Channel 12 in Clarksburg . Later we moved to Charleston and I was anchor at Channel 8. Erik then ran against U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito in 2004. In 2006 Erik became a West Virginia state senator. It was around 2000 that I started thinking about running for secretary of state.

OBSERVER: Why did you want to be secretary of state?

TENNANT: People think it’s all only about elections, but it’s actually a very interesting job. In 1990 I worked one summer in the secretary of state’s office. I was in charge of the student program, Week In State Government. I was the mother hen in a sense. I got to know the secretary of state’s office then. I think the office has so many different aspects. It is the basis of our freedom, as the office supervises the state’s voting system. We should never end an election with a “what if?”

OBSERVER: You ran in the democratic primaries for secretary of state in 2004?

TENNANT: I ran and lost by only 1,100 votes.

OBSERVER: How much money do you need to raise this time?

TENNANT: I need $100,000 to $150,000.

OBSERVER: That’s not much.

TENNANT: You know how much I spent last time? Only $38,000 against a man who spent $500,000. And I almost got the nomination. It’s not about money. Money does not make a good candidate.

OBSERVER: How are you going to beat House Majority Leader Joe Delong, who has also said he is running for secretary of state?

TENNANT: I’ll beat him with my ideas. [Laughs.] But do I have to beat him or he me? You make it sound like he is the one to beat. I’m the one to beat.

OBSERVER: Why are you better than him?

TENNANT: Because I bring so much. I have ideas. [Laughs.] I’m pretty! I’m not asking people not to vote for him, I’m asking you to vote for me.

OBSERVER: You have no executive experience, right?

TENNAN: What has Joe [De Long] done?

OBSERVER: Doesn’t he run the legislative process as majority leader?

TENNANT: How long has he been doing this? Maybe three months (at the time of the interview). He doesn’t want to be secretary of state. That’s why you vote for me because I want to be secretary of state and I want to do a good job.

OBSERVER: What does Joe Delong do for a living?

TENNANT: I have no clue. Nobody knows. He says he is marketing director for the Northern Panhandle’s Mountaineer Racetrack. But he is never there! Does he have a hiatus from his job?
OBSERVER: Can you win in Jefferson County?

TENANT: How do I win over there? I need to get my story over there, about who I am. I am a progressive person in the sense that I’m not a one issue candidate. I’m well rounded. I have support from both unions and business people.

OBSERVER: Who do you have support from?

TENANT: I can’t tell you yet.

OBSERVER: Why not?

TENANT: That’s when you get into politics. We have a legislative session coming up, and the people who will support me, they may have bills coming up. And my opponent, Joe Delong, is House Majority Leader. I will announce the endorsements mid-March.

OBSERVER: Did you vote for or against table gaming in Kanawha County?

TENNANT: [Long pause.] The political answer is that it is a secret ballot and I don’t need to tell you.

OBSERVER: I’m not taking that one!

TENNANT:[Laughs.] Okay, I voted for it.

OBSERVER: So you are in favor of table gaming?

TENNANT: No. I am not in favor of basing our economy on table gaming. Whenever we need money we can’t just be opening up another casino. We need a statewide economic plan.

OBSERVER: Are you in favor of locality pay for teachers?

TENNANT: Yes.

OBSERVER: You are?
TENNANT: I think I am. It’s not one of the issues I’m running on.

OBSERVER: Is the race for secretary of state a stepping stone to the governor’s position?

TENNANT: That is what some people say. You are damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If you say you want to be governor, then people say you won’t make a good secretary of state. If you say want to only be secretary of state, then they say you have no ambition.

OBSERVER: Do you want to be the state’s first female governor?

TENANT: [Laughs.] That’s an unfair question. But yes, why not? But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be secretary of state.

OBSERVER: Are you willing to make a pledge that you will not run for governor until 2016 if you are elected secretary of state in 2008?

TENNANT: [Big pause, then referring to the WVU football coach who recently walked away from his contract.] Rich Rodriguez made a pledge. . . . You don’t know what will happen. Maybe there isn’t a good candidate. And someone needs to run. I don’t want to set myself up to break my word. I know that in my heart I would make a good secretary of state.

Joe Delong, who is also running in the Democratic primary for secretary of state, did not appear for his interview with The Observer, and his office has not returned repeated phone calls.