Wendelin Platform 2026

After nearly forty years in uniform, I’m running for Congress for one simple reason — too many hardworking West Virginians are being made sicker, poorer, and less free by a political system controlled by billionaires, lobbyists, and career politicians.

It’s time to take our power back.

Below is my legislative platform built to protect working families, veterans, seniors, coal communities, teachers, nurses, and small-town West Virginians. Every plank is grounded in fairness, accountability, and the belief that public service is a sacred duty.

My priorities are to —

Clean Up Washington

Ban Stock Trading by Members of Congress

No member of Congress, or their family, should profit from inside information. If you serve the public, you shouldn’t be trading stocks. Period.

Term Limits for Congress

Career politicians created this mess. Term limits help restore accountability and trust.

Term Limits for the Supreme Court

No American — right, left, or center — should wield lifetime political power.

End Dark Money & Overhaul Campaign Finance

Repeal Citizens United. Elections shouldn’t be auctions. Limit campaign contributions to people who actually live in the district.

Balanced Budget Accountability

If Congress can’t pass a budget on time, they shouldn’t get paid on time.

Fight for Working Families

Raise the Federal Minimum Wage

No one working full-time should need government assistance to survive.

Corporate Penalties for Poverty Wages

If a billionaire corporation pays so little that full-time workers still qualify for SNAP or Medicaid, that corporation — not taxpayers — is on welfare. That must end.

Strengthen the Right to Organize

Work to repeal “Right to Work” laws nationally and strengthen collective bargaining by fully restoring the National Labor Relations Act and the National Industrial Recovery Act.

Ban Stock Buybacks

Corporate profits should go to American workers and reinvestment in communities — not to CEO bonuses.

Restore the Glass-Steagall Act

Reinstate the firewall between Main Street checking accounts and Wall Street gambling.

Protect Social Security
and Retirement

Remove the Cap on Social Security Taxes

A coal miner and a nurse pay Social Security taxes on every dollar they earn. The wealthy shouldn’t stop contributing at $168,000. This single reform secures Social Security for generations — without cutting benefits.

National Anti-Scam Legislation

Strengthen crypto regulation, banking oversight, and consumer protections that shield seniors and every American saving for retirement.

Promote Healthcare That Works
for Every American

Universal Healthcare

Healthcare should be simple, affordable, and accessible. No deductibles. No surprise bills. No bankruptcies.

Make Health Insurance Non-Profit Again

Healthcare is a public good — not a Wall Street profit center.

Protect and Expand Rural Hospitals

Crack down on private-equity abuse and invest in emergency and primary-care access.

Strengthen West Virginia Communities

Fully Fund Rural Broadband

Broadband should be treated as a public utility. Every holler, every ridge, every home should be connected.

Restore Federal Agencies That Protect Us

Rebuild the agencies that safeguard:

  • Mine safety

  • Clean drinking water

  • Veterans’ healthcare

  • Rural development

  • Emergency preparedness

  • Environmental protections

Infrastructure & Jobs Corps

A New Deal–style program to rebuild roads, bridges, broadband, water systems, and abandoned mine lands creating good jobs across WV-02.

Protect Public Schools & Education

Ban K–12 Voucher Schemes Nationwide

Public money belongs in public schools.

Keep Lottery, Gaming & Tourism Revenue in the Communities That Generate It

If Berkeley Springs generates the revenue, Berkeley Springs kids should see the benefit— not Charleston insiders.

Invest in Teachers, School Staff & Skilled Trades

West Virginia’s largest professions deserve respect, fair pay, and safe classrooms.

Promote Veteran Rights

I served 39 years in uniform. I will never stop fighting for those who served our country. I’ll push to:

  • Fully fund the VA — no privatization, no delays.

  • Expand burn-pit and toxic-exposure coverage.

  • Fix appointment backlogs at Martinsburg and across the VA system.

  • Guarantee mental-health access for every veteran.

Protect Freedom, Privacy
& Personal Liberty

Legalize, Regulate & Tax Cannabis Federally

Veterans, cancer patients, and chronic-pain sufferers shouldn’t be criminals. And WV farmers deserve the economic opportunity.

Restore the Right to Choose

Keep the government out of the exam room and out of family decisions.

Strengthen Privacy Rights

End the buying and selling of Americans’ personal data here and abroad.

Protect Our Land, Water & Future

Restore the EPA and Give It Teeth

Hold the coal barons responsible for cleaning up the mess they made and ensure communities that have been poisoned are made whole.

Rail & Chemical Transport Safety

After East Palestine, Appalachia deserves better. No more toxic trains through our towns without accountability.

Taxes Based on Fairness
— Not Favoritism

Wealth Tax on Ultra-Millionaires

Put the tax burden on billionaires and mega-estates over $10 million — not working families.

Close Corporate Loopholes

Make corporations pay what small businesses pay.

The Bottom Line

I’m running to represent the people — not the powerful. Not the insiders. Not the billionaire donors.

Everything on this platform serves one mission:

To make West Virginians healthier, wealthier, and more free — and to return the government to the people it was meant to serve.

If this is the future you want, join me. Together, we can take back our democracy and build a West Virginia that works for everyone.