West Virginia’s 2020 Primary Election was a historic one in terms of strides toward inclusion in electoral politics.

Rosemary Ketchum, who has served on the ACLU-WV board since 2018, was elected to a seat on the Wheeling City Council. This makes Rosemary the first-ever out transgender candidate to be elected to a public office.

Rosemary, who is also a member of the Wheeling Human Rights Commission and associate director of NAMI of Greater Wheeling, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, ran primarily on issues surrounding homelessness, the opioid crisis and improving infrastructure. Wheeling City Council’s elections are nonpartisan.

She said she is eager to take her advocacy for the city’s most vulnerable people to the next level as an elected official.

“The work of an elected official is to reflect the values of their community in the actions of their leadership, which is exactly what I am prepared to do,” she said.

With her seemingly endless amounts of energy, know-how, and enthusiasm, we can think of no one to help the city of Wheeling move forward than Rosemary.