Walker seeks West Virginia 2nd District Congressional seat

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2024 PRIMARY ELECTION SAMPLE BALLOT LOOKUP TOOL

By Charles Winslow / Originally published April 19, 2024, in the print INNformer

When Republican voters in West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District vote in May’s primary one of the candidates for whom they will be able to vote is retired Brig. Gen. Chris “Mookie” Walker.

“I’m running for Congress because we need a self-made West Virginia warrior in Washington, D.C., not another career politician merely casting votes,” Walker said.  

Born to Jamaican parents who immigrated to the United States and became citizens, his father was an electronics technician and his mother an OB-GYN nurse, Walker was born in New York City and was graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1983 and from the United States Air Force Academy in 1988. After graduation, he became a C-130 navigator and following a number of assignments left active service in 1997 and joined the Air National Guard, stationed with the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg.

In 2016, Walker became chief of staff in the West Virginia Air National Guard, being promoted to brigadier general in 2017 and assistant adjutant general in 2019. He also served as an assistant to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs in Washington, D.C.

“I know that I am challenging a political dynasty,” Walker said of running against Riley Moore, during an interview with The INNformer. He pointed out that Moore, currently the West Virginia State Treasurer, had previously been a vice president in the Podesta Group and lobbied for foreign governments and the head of the Podesta Group had worked for Hillary Clinton.”

Quoting a recent internal poll, Walker’s campaign said: “Riley Moore begins the race as a vulnerable ‘frontrunner,’ despite holding statewide office, only a third of the voters have an opinion of him. 22 percent favorable and 13 percent unfavorable. 65 percent of voters neither have an opinion of Moore, nor can they describe an ideological position to him.”

“Chris Walker has plenty of runway in this wide-open race. After a volley of positive messaging highlighting his pro-Trump, conservative agenda, the Air Force General soars to 61 percent on the ballot.”

When asked if he believed his military service and general’s rank would benefit him in the civilian political arena, Walker said his experience as a Joint Qualified Officer required him to be able to work with competing services and “I can do the same thing in Washington.

“We need to use the Constitution to bring the country back,” he said. “We are seeing the left getting bold in everything and they don’t care about the country,”adding an example of Easter Sunday was designated as Trans Day of Visibility.

“We need to stomp the brakes and turn things around. This is not the America that I swore to serve and protect,” he said.

On policies, Walker expressed concern the military is no longer feared by our enemies and that for the last two years has not met its recruiting goals. “The kids joining are not being trained to fight, but to become ‘woke’.”

Serving on the board of three charter schools, Walker is opposed to the current trends in education and is in favor of school choice, believing that competition would make public schools get better.

“I have no qualms with the LGBT but I don’t want them messing with our kids. The left has infiltrated schools from K through graduation, pushing their agenda when they should be pushing reading, writing and math. When they get to college, they are woefully unprepared. We need to go back to classical education,” Walker said.

He also believes in using Congress’ power of the purse to rein in the federal government. “The EPA is strangling West Virginia’s farmers. “Holy smoke, they are overstepping their authority and it’s up to Congress to rein them in by taking away their money.”

As for term limits, the retired general is all for them. “For Congress four terms is good. If you haven’t done anything by then – go home.”

“I think we need a battle-tested warrior to shake up D.C,” Walker concluded.

To learn more about Chris “Mookie” Walker, visit his campaign’s page online at chriswalkerforcongress.com