State Treasurer John Perdue criticized three other candidates in the race to be the new Governor of West Virginia – present acting governor Earl Ray Tomblin; acting Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall; and House Speaker Richard Thompson, D-Wayne – for the failure of legislation to regulate Marcellus Shale drilling to pass into law at this year’s regular legislative session.

Perdue, a current Democratic candidate for governor, addressed a town hall meeting at the Stone Church Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday, where nearby roads show the negative effects of trucks transporting natural gas from drilling sites.  Perdue is 60 and originally from Boone County coal country. He said that shale gas development was “arguably the most important issue in the state” that the Legislature addressed earlier this year. “At the end, when the bell rang, they weren’t there for you,” Perdue said. “They walked away.  If I’m governor, I’m going to say, ‘We’re going to stay here until we get those checks and balances in place.  We’re going to stay here until we protect the people and their rights.’”

Eleven of the fourteen candidates running to be West Virginia’s next governor were at Musselman High School in the Eastern Panhandle on Friday night.  Betty Ireland, former West Virginia Secretary of State and Republican candidate, said,  ”A serious attack in our environmental problems here are the EPA’s egregious attacks on our West Virginia industries.”  Jesse Johnson, the Mountain Party candidate said, “The number one energy source in West Virginia is not being tapped, is not being used for jobs and that’s conservation and that’s across the board.”

Marcellus Shale was one of the hot topics, as regulations for the industry failed to pass in the state’s recent legislative session.  “As governor I’d call a special session to create regulations dealing with Marcellus Shale,” said Rick Thompson, Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates and Democratic candidate.

Senator Kessler and Acting Governor Tomblin are known to have differing views, as reported earlier. Other Democrats seeking the governor’s office in the May 14 special primary election are Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and Charleston resident Arne Moltis. Other Republicans in the race are current state Sen. Clark Barnes of Randolph County; Delegate Mitch Carmichael, of Jackson County; former Delegate Larry Faircloth of Berkeley County; Putnam County Prosecutor Mark Sorsaia; and businessmen Bill Maloney and Ralph William Clark and Cliff Ellis, all of Monongalia County.