Charlotte Jean Pritt (born January 2, 1949)[1] is an American educator, businesswoman, and politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia.
[7] Prior to entering politics, Pritt, the daughter of a coal miner, worked as a high school English teacher[8] and a college professor.
[9] She gained notoriety initially by challenging then-Governor Caperton on his grocery and gasoline taxes and opposition to collective bargaining.
[16][15] After losing the Democratic primary to Caperton, Pritt refused to endorse her party's nominee and mounted an independent write-in bid for governor in the general election.
[18][13] She was the first woman to secure the West Virginia gubernatorial nomination of either of the two major political parties and gained the endorsement of then President Bill Clinton.
[14] The National Senate Republican Committee (NSRC) and West Virginia State Victory Committee funded a television ad campaign against Pritt falsely accusing her of voting for a bill that would allow children to access pornography and proposing to teach first graders about condom use, among others.
[22] Political opponents had additionally attempted to paint her as "flaky" and "a little off the wall" by alleging that her mother had dabbled in fortune-telling.
[26] Pritt ran for West Virginia Secretary of State in 2000, losing the Democratic primary to Manchin, 41.1 to 32.9 percent.
[7] On Bray Cary's statewide show Decision Makers, Pritt called her billionaire Democratic gubernatorial opponent Jim Justice a "Republican".
[29] In response, West Virginia Democratic Party chairwoman Belinda Biafore allegedly signed and sent out a letter to an electronic mailing list, claiming that the GOP had adopted Pritt, that the Republicans were funding her campaign and that "a vote for Pritt is a vote for Cole" (a reference to Bill Cole, the GOP nominee).
[36] During the 2018 election cycle, Pritt endorsed Paula Jean Swearengin in the senatorial primary against incumbent Joe Manchin.
[40] In 2017, Pritt defended a Raleigh County, West Virginia doctor, Michael Kostenko, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on federal drug charges for giving out painkillers.
After Kostenko pleaded guilty, Pritt said at his sentencing that he was a great doctor who used “non-traditional” and “non-invasive” medical techniques.
[10] The non-profit seeks to increase community events, improve infrastructure, and promote economic and housing opportunities.