Richard Ojeda
Richard Neece Ojeda II (/oʊˈdʒɛdə/ oh-JED-ə; born October 25, 1970) is an American politician and retired United States Army major who served in the West Virginia Senate representing the 7th district from 2016 until 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he ran a brief campaign for President of the United States in the 2020 election.
Richard Ojeda
October 25, 1970
Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.
Kelly Ojeda
3
United States
1989–2014
-
Meritorious Service Medal (2)
-
Army Commendation Medal (7)
-
Army Achievement Medal (5)
-
Good Conduct Medal
-
National Defense Service Medal
-
Afghanistan Campaign Medal
-
Iraq Campaign Medal
-
GWOT Expeditionary Medal
-
GWOT Service Medal
-
Korea Defense Service Medal
-
Armed Forces Service Medal
-
Humanitarian Service Medal
-
Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal
-
Army NCO PD Ribbon
-
Army Service Ribbon
-
Overseas Service Ribbon (4)
-
NATO Medal
-
Valorous Unit Award
-
Meritorious Unit Commendation (4)
-
Superior Unit Award
-
Combat Action Badge
-
Master Parachutist Badge
-
Air Assault Badge
- Bronze De Fleury Medal
- Sapper Tab
- Canadian, Venezuelan, German, Chilean, Kuwaiti, Egyptian and Pakistani parachutist badges
- German Schützenschnur (Bronze)
.svg){kind=small}
Raised in Logan, West Virginia, Ojeda graduated from West Virginia State University and Webster University. He initially joined the United States Army as an enlisted soldier and went through officer training after finishing college. During his 25 years in the military, Ojeda earned two Bronze Star Medals and rose to the rank of major. After retiring, he initially worked as a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps teacher before running for office.
Ojeda was elected to the West Virginia Senate in 2016. He received national attention when he became a vocal supporter of the 2018 teachers' strike and advocated for the legalization of cannabis in West Virginia. In November 2018, Ojeda announced his candidacy for president in the 2020 election, but he dropped out in January 2019 when his campaign failed to gain traction. In January 2020, Ojeda announced he would instead challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito in the 2020 election, but he failed to secure the Democratic nomination in the primary.
Early life and education[edit]
Ojeda was born in Rochester, Minnesota, the son of Florena (Pansera) and Richard N. Ojeda.[1] He was born into a Democratic family and he registered as a Democrat. He remarked that "back when I was in high school, being a Republican was like cursing". Ojeda's paternal grandfather, Senon H. Ojeda, was an illegal immigrant from the Mexican state of Jalisco who came to West Virginia during the coal boom to try and make a living, and later gained citizenship. One of Ojeda's grandparents died in a mining accident after fighting in World War II. Ojeda's father was born in the United States, but moved to Mexico and lived there until the age of eight. Ojeda's father worked as a nurse anaesthetist.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Ojeda also has Italian ancestry.[8]
Ojeda graduated from Logan High School in 1988.[4][2] He earned a bachelor's degree in General Education from West Virginia State University and a master's degree in Business and Organizational Security from Webster University.[9]
Ojeda for President
Richard Ojeda
State Senator from West Virginia (2016–2019)
Inactive
November 11, 2018
January 25, 2019
US$119,477.74[33] (3/31/2019)
We Are Worthy[34]
Political positions[edit]
Ideological orientation[edit]
Ojeda has been described by some as a populist[50][7] of the "left-wing variety",[7] and a "staunch progressive".[51] He identifies as a traditional working-class Democrat and laments what he perceives as a Democratic party that is increasingly drifting away from its working-class roots and becoming a party of the elite.[7] In the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, he says he voted for Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.[52] He has also been described as a moderate Democrat and he stated that he voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election (a decision he later regretted).[53][54] He describes himself as a "conservative on most cultural issues" who supports coal jobs and border security.[55]
Taxes[edit]
Ojeda was one of the few West Virginia lawmakers who came out outspokenly in favor of raising taxes on corporations and the rich, calling for higher corporate taxes (particularly on coal and gas corporations that were the major economic players in WV) to offset spending cuts that had negatively affected public services and employees in the state.[56]
Labor rights[edit]
Ojeda is devoutly pro-union and has received $121,440 from several unions, including the American Federation of Teachers and the Teamsters' Union.[57][58][56][7] Ojeda opposes right-to-work laws.[56]
Gun control[edit]
On gun control, Ojeda has been described as pro-gun,[59] and has stated he agreed with Carol Miller's position that increased services for the mentally-ill would help ease gun violence, his own stances on guns have also been described as similar to Miller's overall, such as mass shootings, and in doing so he would launch a campaign to help remove stigmas regarding mentally-ill individuals. He has also stated that he supports the Second Amendment, and does not believe more restrictions are needed.[60][61]
However, on August 8, 2019, following the Dayton and El Paso shootings, Ojeda called pro-gun rights politicians "spineless pieces of shit" who "didn't have the balls" to take on the NRA. He also called for heavier gun restrictions, citing recent mass shootings which accounted for a total of 74 deaths.[62]
Foreign policy[edit]
Ojeda, on his Twitter account has posted several tweets opposed to Saudi Arabia and the intervention it leads in support of the Yemeni government against the Iranian-backed Houthis that had taken over much of Yemen's north including its capital, Sanaa, he stated that the US should end support for Saudi Arabia and end arms deals with the nation, he also condemned the country for the alleged involvement of the Saudi government in Jamal Khashoggi's death.[63]
Regarding Iran, Ojeda has stated he would not support a war with Iran.[64]
Abortion[edit]
Ojeda self-identifies as pro choice. He supports abortion rights and that he would only nominate judges who likewise shared his support for access to abortion.[65][66] In 2018, he said regarding the term pro-life, which is used to describe those who are against abortions as, "I’m also calling bullshit on the idea that opposing abortion makes you pro-life...If you just want to keep working class women from making their own decisions, you might be pro-birth but you’re not pro-life." He has also voiced opposition to the Helms Amendment that limits the United States in assistance to abortion through foreign aid, saying, "a woman raped by the Taliban or Boko Haram should not be forced by the callousness of our government to bear her rapist’s child".[65]
In 2016, Ojeda described himself as "pro-life, with exceptions".[67]
“I’ve always said that I’m pro-life,” he told WCHS during the campaign, “but I also, being someone who almost lost my wife and child during child birth, I think it’s also important in certain circumstances that the mother have the ability to choose her life.”
Healthcare[edit]
Ojeda supports Medicare for All. He has also stated that Congress and the president should be barred from taking out extra insurance, and would instead have to rely on the standard healthcare which would be afforded every American citizen for the course of their terms to incentivize them in promoting and maintaining quality comprehensive universal healthcare coverage.[68]
Environment[edit]
Ojeda has called for sustainable energy.[51] He is in favor of a Green New Deal.[69][70]
Ojeda has noted that he sees a limited role of the anthracite coal (like the one mined in his home state) in steel-making for the foreseeable future but has acknowledged that coal is "not gonna come back", and expressed his desire to find a way for miners to transition into other well-paying jobs.[7]
During his 2018 congressional campaign, Ojeda praised the Trump administration's plan to roll back environmental regulations of the Obama administration and stated it would benefit the coal industry.
"President Trump made a promise to West Virginia to help put our coal miners back to work and in many places our coal miners are working again," Ojeda said in a statement "This will help West Virginia. This will help coal mining families. The fact is that President Trump's EPA's proposal will help put more West Virginians to work in the third congressional district."[71]
Immigration[edit]
Ojeda supports Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and a pathway to citizenship for "Dreamers".[68][51]
In his reasoning for voting for Trump in 2016, Ojeda cited Trump's stance on reducing immigration and limiting the admission of refugees as reasons for his support.
“When you hear about illegal aliens getting benefits and you have people here starving to death and can’t get nothing, it’s just a slap in the face,” Ojeda said in a New Yorker interview. “When you start talking about bringing in refugees and when they get here they get medical and dental and they get set up with some funds—what do we get? So when people hear Donald Trump saying we’re going to take benefits away from people who come here illegally and give them to people who work, that sounds pretty good.”[72]
Cannabis[edit]
Ojeda has called for the legalization of marijuana and clemency for those incarcerated for possession.[73] During his tenure as state senator, Ojeda spearheaded the passage of a bill legalizing medical marijuana.[74] He advocates directing funds raised from taxes on cannabis sales to fund public works.[51]
Pharmaceutical companies[edit]
Ojeda has taken stances against the pharmaceutical industry,[75] focusing in particular on its role in sparking the opioid epidemic.[7]
Campaign finance, political ethics, and transparency[edit]
As described by Ojeda, his campaign focused on "lobbying and corruption in Washington", and has proposed measures to address political ethics.[7][11] Ojeda has proposed requiring body-cams on lobbyists in order to increase government transparency and public oversight.[7][76] He is a supporter of WolfPAC,[76] and has pledged not to take corporate donations for his campaign.[44]
Ojeda has proposed that federally elected officials and Cabinet officials must donate to charity any net worth exceeding one million dollars to prevent exploitation of political office for personal financial gain. He proposed that, upon retirement from public office, such officials must be subject to an annual earnings limit of $120,000 (in addition to a $130,000 pension), "subject to automatic yearly cost of living adjustments."[34][7]
Ojeda has called for implementing "donor vouchers," allocated funds that would give individual voters small amounts of money to donate to the candidate of their choice, to enhance the financial sway of individual, poorer voters.[77]
