Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer Announces Run for the West Virginia Senate

(Morgantown, W. Va.) West Virginia Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer recently announced her 2022 candidacy for the West Virginia Senate in the 13^th District.  A video of her announcement can be viewed, downloaded, and shared from here.
 First elected to the WV House of Delegates in 1994, Barbara Evans Fleischauer has worked hard to be responsive to the needs of citizens and to help them navigate state government. “One of my proudest accomplishments,” said Fleischauer, “was passage of a bill that set a cap on co-pays for insulin.”  To dramatize the enormous cost increases for insulin, Delegate Fleischauer helped organize a bus trip to Canada where West Virginians with diabetes were able to purchase life-saving insulin at much lower prices.  “We still have a long way to go to make drugs more affordable for West Virginians,” she added. For 18 years, she served as Chair of the House Constitutional Revision Committee, and also had stints as Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans Affairs, and the Joint Juvenile Task Force.  Delegate Fleischauer has served on many legislative committees, including Judiciary, Finance, Health and Human Resources, and Rule-Making Review.  Putting her legislative experience to work, Delegate Fleischauer went to bat for the employees at Mylan Pharmaceuticals, passing a House Resolution and spearheading a successful campaign to get CISA, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency, to designate the Mylan Pharmaceuticals plant as “critical infrastructure.”   Following her lead, WV Speaker of the House Roger Hanshaw, US Representative David McKinley and US Senator Joe Manchin, joined her request for help from CISA, which resulted in a letter officially designating the plant as critical infrastructure.  The designation could enable a future operator of the plant to secure federal funding for essential medicines to be manufactured in the United States. Known for being one of the hardest working Delegates, Barbara Evans Fleischauer has passed hundreds of bills to aid women, children, veterans and disabled West Virginians.  Sometimes, Delegate Fleischauer’s most important contributions have been to stop, or sound the alarm, about harmful legislation.
A graduate of the WVU College of Law, Delegate Fleischauer served five years as General Counsel of District 31 of the United Mine Workers, located in Fairmont.  She also represented employees and families for many years in her private law practice. 
Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer has been the recipient of numerous national and state awards, including the AARP Capitol Caregiver Award, the WV Women’s Commission Guardian Angel Award, and the National Committee on Pay Equity’s Action Award.  She has been named Legislator of the Year by several nonprofits and professional organizations. The Senate seat is currently held by Bob Beach, who recently announced he did not plan to run again. “I’ve served for many years with Senator Beach,” said Fleischauer, “and I commend his leadership on local issues, like helping establish the Monongalia County Ball Park, which hosts both WVU and Minor League baseball teams.  I am also grateful for the increased attention he gave to improving the terrible roads in our region when he was Chair of the Transportation Committee,” she added. Barbara is married to Bob Bastress, a Professor at the WVU College of Law.  They live on the Evans family farm on Baker’s Ridge Road.  They are the proud parents of two adult children, Sarah and Rob (married to Blaire Malkin) and two grandchildren, Arlo and Della.
“It has been an honor to represent the citizens of Monongalia County,” said Delegate Fleischauer, “and I welcome winning the opportunity to serve with my dear friend, Senator Mike Caputo, who also serves in the 13^th District from Marion County. He is such a great champion for the working families of West Virginia.” The 13^th Senatorial district, just finalized in the WV Legislature’s recent special session on redistricting, includes portions of Monongalia and Marion Counties encompassing several cities including Morgantown, Fairmont, Star City, Pleasant Valley, Granville, Monongah, Westover and White Hall.