Boone County in West Virginia is a long way from Jefferson County. Its county seat, Madison, is further from Charles Town than is Stamford Connecticut. It also serves as a stark contrast to our county - more than twice its size but less than half the population. The median value of a home there is a little more than a third of what it is here and the percentage of its citizens living below the poverty line is nearly double.

According to Boone County’s website, it was formed in 1847 in what was then Virginia from parts of Kanawha, Logan and Cabell County. It is named for American folk hero, frontiersman and pioneer, Daniel Boone. In front of the court house (which is on the National Register of Historic Places) in Madison, is a statue of a coal miner.

Boone County, in West Virginia’s 23rd district, is represented by Delegate Joshua Nelson. A graduate of Liberty University with a degree in aeronautics, he is also a youth pastor, a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marines serving in the West Virginia Air National Guard and a husband and father. His service in the Guard led him to Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas. An article posted on their website in October credited him with the prevention of a potential violent crime at a nearby Walmart. It described his life as being “almost Hollywoodesque”, saying “He’s gone from working in coal mines, to the Marine Corps, back to the mines, and today, when he’s not refining his flying skills, he serves in the West Virginia legislature as a delegate”.

Joshua Nelson is representative of the transformation that is happening in our state. Upon winning his election in 2012, he became the first Republican in the history of West Virginia to represent Boone County in the House of Delegates. That was two years ago. Today, at the age of 27 he is still one of the youngest members of the House, although that title is now held by 18 year old Delegate-elect Saira Blair, also a Republican.

In 2012, the MetroNews headline read: “Surprise Upset In 23rd Delegate District”. Surprise might have been an understatement. Joshua Nelson not only won, he garnered 63% of the vote, and was re-elected in November. However, that re-election bid was not without adversity - which raised an important issue.

Nelson missed this year’s legislative session due to his service commitments to the West Virginia Air National Guard. True to form, the Charleston Gazette published an article that put this in a negative light. Here’s a quote from the article: “I’ll tell you who was hurt by this: the people of Boone County,” said Delegate Mike Caputo, D-Marion. “They haven’t had a voice for a session and a half. Not a vote, not a voice.” For the record, legislation was introduced in the last session to allow legislators who serve in the military to vote remotely using technology. The bill never made it out of committee. Because they are the majority party, all committees are controlled by Democrats. In 2015 that will change.

Ironically, although there was no mention of this in the Gazette article, Delegate Caputo is also a vice president of the United Mine Workers of America, District 31. The UMWA allocated the vast majority of its financial resources to Democrats in West Virginia in 2014, endorsing and financially supporting Nelson’s opponent. I recently spoke with Delegate Nelson and he acknowledged that in 2012 he and his father talked about his father’s contributions his opponent’s campaign because he was a member of the UMWA.

This is why Right to Work legislation is necessary. Right to Work simply means that a worker is not required to pay union dues as a condition of employment. A worker can join the union if they wish, but it is not mandatory. Currently, unions are allowed to negotiate “closed shop” agreements with large corporations that require a worker to not only join a union, but also require workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment. This runs counter to our constitutional right of association - no one should be forced to pay dues to financially support that which they oppose.

The fact is that unions are politically partisan - contributing overwhelmingly to Democrats. To the surprise of many, according to OpenSecrets.org, 10 out of the top 15 contributors to political campaigns nationally aren’t big corporations - they are unions. In West Virginia unions also top the contributor lists and the vast majority of their support goes Democrats - and that includes the UMWA. Therefore, if you are a member of a union, and you are a Republican, with rare exceptions, you are forced to contribute to those you philosophically oppose. This is fundamentally unfair.

Although they are portrayed as such by union supporters, Right to Work laws aren’t really anti-union. By making participation voluntary, unions can be held accountable to their members and would actually have to convince a worker that it would be to his or her advantage to join. And then follow through.

Whether or not right to work states perform better than forced unionized states is a hotly debated topic. The recent recession has further muddied the waters. However, most of the debate centers on wage growth. Some claim that wages are lower in right to work states, others claim that cost of living is lower in those states. However, the general consensus is that job growth is higher in right to work states leading to lower unemployment.

Delegate Joshua Nelson is a coal miner and a son of a coal miner. From what I’ve seen, for him it’s not about the money, it’s about the principal. The United Mine Workers of America bet big against him and lost. My grandfather was a coal miner. While I live in Jefferson County, a piece of my heart goes out to Boone County and Delegate Nelson. We’re all West Virginias, and he’s already a part of West Virginia’s history - and now it appears that he’s a part of its future also.