Saira Blair: Meet America’s Youngest Lawmaker

Saira Blair, 18, has won a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates, making her the youngest state lawmaker in the country.

Some news outlets have observed that the college freshman is now a freshman legislator.

Last May, Blair defeated an incumbent fellow Republican while she was still a high school senior and too young to actually vote for herself.

Yesterday in the general election, the pro-gun, pro-family and pro-business candidate defeated her Democrat opponent in a landslide, 63 percent to 30 percent. She plans to temporarily postpone her freshman year at West Virginia University so she can attend the state legislature’s 60-day session. Instead she will pick up some additional course hours over the summer. Blair apparently ran much of the campaign from her dorm room.

On her Facebook page, Blair offered these comments about her win:

“I am honored and humbled to have been elected the youngest member to ever serve in the West Virginia House of Delegates. I am deeply grateful to my supporters, volunteers, friends and family for their hard work
during the campaign. I also want to thank my opponents for a running a positive and competitive race. For far too long, West Virginians have been burdened by high unemployment, a sluggish economy, and a government unwilling to listen to the needs of its citizens. When I made the decision to run for public office, I did so because I firmly believe that my generation’s voice, fresh perspective and innovative ideas can help solve some of our state’s most challenging issues. History has been made tonight in West Virginia, and while I am proud of all that we have accomplished together, it is the future of this state that is now my singular focus…”

With regard to her election at such a young age, The Wall Street Journal explained that Blair “will be the youngest state lawmaker in the nation, according to records kept by the National Conference of State Legislatures. There are more than 7,300 state legislators in the U.S., and fewer than 5 percent are under the age of 30, according to Morgan Cullen, a policy analyst at NCSL.”

As the Inquisitr reported earlier, Republican Elise Stefanik, 30, also made history yesterday as the youngest women ever to get elected to Congress from the 21st Congressional District of New York.

Saira Blair originally decided to run for office because many of her contemporaries were being forced to leave the state to find employment somewhere else. “I think it’s important for us to bring jobs to the state of West Virginia. I see a lot of people get their high school and their college education in West Virginia and then they leave the state because they can’t find a good paying job,” Blair explained.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To64Jh4L8c8