W.Va. GOP Hires New Executive Director

As its fundraising labors continue, West Virginia's Republican Party has hired a new executive director.

The Associated Press interviewed Troy Berman, a 30-year-old Baltimore native who took the job after working on GOP campaigns in his home state as well as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas.

Berman "comes to the post with Republicans at low tide, even by West Virginia standards," the article said. Besides Democratic dominance of the congressional delegation and across state government, "feuding within the Republican Party has spilled out onto blogs, newspapers and talk radio as members clash over how to reverse their sagging fortunes."

Berman tells AP that the upcoming, off-year election will allow the GOP to focus on legislative races. "We expect 2010 to be a good year for Republicans nationwide, and I have no reason to believe that will be different for West Virginia,” Berman said.