Independent candidate enters mayoral race in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - An independent candidate has announced he is running for mayor of West Virginia’s capital city.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported on Sunday (https://bit.ly/2sjpYW0 ) that Andrew “Andy” Backus filed for precandidacy in Charleston’s 2018 mayoral race. State code requires possible candidates for public office to register a committee to accept campaign contributions, and through that process the Committee to Elect Andy Backus was filed.

Backus works in adult education at a local career center, and the Charleston native has degrees from West Virginia and Marshall universities.

Backus is the third to file precandidacy paperwork for mayor after Democrats ex-tourism commissioner Amy Goodwin and councilman-at-large Andy Richardson.

Charleston mayor Danny Jones has advocated for Republican city clerk J.B. Akers, who the city clerk’s office says has yet to file for the race.

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Information from: The Charleston Gazette-Mail, https://wvgazettemail.com.