Richard Ojeda

Richard Neece Ojeda II (oʊˈdʒɛdə; born September 25, 1970) is an American politician serving as the West Virginia State Senator from the 7th district since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he is running for President of the United States in the upcoming 2020 election.After finishing high school, Ojeda served in the United States Army for 24 years, reaching the rank of major. During his service, he received two bronze stars and graduated from West Virginia State University, where he earned a bachelors degree in general education, and Webster University, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. Following his retirement from the U.S. Army, he worked as a high school teacher for four years, before succefully campaigning for the West Virginia Senate in 2016.Ojeda attracted national attention when he became a vocal supporter of the 2018 West Virginia teachers strike and successfully advocated the legalization of cannabis in the state. After improving Democratic results by 32 percentage points during his unsuccessful run against Carol Miller in West Virginias 3rd congressional district in the 2018 election, Ojeda announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States on November 12, 2018. While politically Ojeda considers himself a moderate, his views have been been likened more to left-wing populism, running on a Medicare for all, legalization of cannabis, anti-lobbyism and government accountability platform.

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