Wheeling City Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum announced her bid for Wheeling mayor Wednesday.
WHEELING – Wheeling City Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum officially announced Wednesday her bid to become the city’s next mayor and launched her 2024 mayoral race campaign.
A launch party was held Wednesday evening in Wheeling’s historic Centre Market.
If elected in 2024, Ketchum would become only the second woman to serve as Wheeling Mayor, and the first transgender person elected mayor in West Virginia history, her campaign noted.
Ketchum, 29, has served in several different capacities in public service. She has served in leadership roles at the ACLU of WV, West Virginia Center On Budget and Policy, Wheeling Arts Commission and the Friendlier City Project.
She was catapulted into the national spotlight during her first venture into public office, when she became the first transgender person elected to public office in the state of West Virginia in 2020. Since taking office, she has served as Wheeling’s Ward 3 council representative. Ketchum represents the city’s East Wheeling, Center Wheeling, South Wheeling and Mozart neighborhoods.
Following her successful campaign for a seat on Wheeling City Council in 2020, she has been interviewed by numerous national publications and television programs. Her efforts have been chronicled in a PBS documentary, as well as in Time Magazine, on MSNBC, CNBC and other shows.
Dozens of community leaders joined Ketchum on Wednesday night for her mayoral race launch, pledging to volunteer and support her 2024 campaign.
Kickoff “hosts” for Ketchum’s campaign included Kellie White, Jenna Derrico, Braden Beckett, Alex Panas, Mikaya Green, Haley Steed, Crin Joy, Melinda Koslik, Wanda Morgan, Maddie McGregor, Ellie McGregor, Amy Cordy, Jermaine Lucious, Vincent DeGeorge, Joe Sparksman, Ron Scott Jr. and others.
If successful, Ketchum would take the seat that will be vacated by current Mayor Glenn Elliott Jr., who will complete his second and final term in office at the end of June 2024.
The seat for mayor and all six ward council seats will be up for grabs during next year’s municipal election. In the coming months, a number of additional candidates are expected to announce their intentions to run for seats on council – including candidates for the mayoral race.
Presently, only former Greater Wheeling Sports and Entertainment Authority Executive Director Denny Magruder has announced his intention to enter the race to become the Friendly City’s next mayor.
The four-year terms for mayor and for the six ward council seats begin on July 1, 2024, and end on June 30, 2028. The positions on city council are non-partisan.
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