Mountain Blog

The High Sheriff of Cabell County

I was out mowing the grass on the roadside last Saturday when the high sheriff of Cabell County stopped by to say "Hey."

For the unitiated, "high sheriff" doesn't refer to his physical condition. Some of us in West Virginia call the deputy sheriffs "Sheriff" but the elected county sheriff is known as the "high sheriff." I think it's an old English tradition.

I've known Sheriff Kim Wolfe since he was a kid. He's a little younger than I but he has lived in my community all his life. We went to the Mount Union United Methodist Church together when we were young. Kim was always different - a rather serious straight arrow. While we were out drinking and carousing, Kim generally did the work of the Lord and the Boy Scouts.

Kim became a Mormon and I gave up going to church for Lent one year and never started again. Not only did he become a Mormon Church member, he is the Bishop of the Huntington Stake of his church. In the finest Mormon tradition, he and his wife, Debbie, have eight children. I have never seen anyone juggle so many responsibilities and do it so well.

Kim, a Republican, wanted to pick my withering brain about running for Congress against Nick Joe Rahall, the incumbent Democratic congressman from the Third Congressional District. Here's the deal with Kim: He serving his second term as high sheriff and, under the law, he can't run for the office again. If he runs for Congress, he won't have to give up his high sheriff job.

When it comes to family values, something that's highly prized in West Virignia, Kim is a living testimonial to the phrase. And when it comes to being squaky clean, Kim defines that phrase as well. I once told Kim that I can die a happy man because I actually lived under a totally honest high sheriff.

Kim knows running against Rahall would be an uphill fight, but state Republicans are virtually begging him to run. As befuddled as they are, state Republicans know a good candidate when they see one.

As for me, I want him to run and I want him to win. I don't agree with some of his beliefs, but who wouldn't want a congressman living a mile away - an honest man and a bishop to boot?

Go for it, Kim.

posted by Dave Peyton @ 9:19 AM