Douglas Vernon Reynolds (born February 8, 1976 in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

) is an American politician, businessman, and a former Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing District 17 from January 12, 2013, to January 2017. Reynolds served consecutively from January 2007 until January 2013 in the District 16 seat. In 2016 Reynolds decided against running for his seat again, instead opting to run for the Attorney General of West Virginia position. Reynolds is also an attorney, the president of Energy Services of America, a

pipeline Pipeline may refer to: Electronics, computers and computing * Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on ** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...

construction company, and HD Media the publisher of the ''

Herald-Dispatch ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. History ''The Herald-Dispatch'' was founded in 19 ...

'' and five other newspapers throughout West Virginia.

Early life and education

Reynolds grew up in Wayne, West Virginia, and graduated from Wayne High School in the same town. After graduating

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, Reynolds attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. While there, he earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

. After graduated from Duke, Reynolds attended the West Virginia University College of Law in

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as th ...

, earning his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. He later was granted admittance to the

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

State Bar.

Career

Private sector

Reynolds has been the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Energy Services of America, a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

for energy and construction subsidiaries, since 2012. Along with this, Reynolds was the founder and a director for the First Bank of Charleston before it was purchased by Premier Bank Reynolds also serves on the boards of the United Way of the River Cities, Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Huntington, Prestera Foundation and the City of Huntington Foundation. Reynolds is the founder and

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of HD Media a publisher of weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s and

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s. The company currently owns

The Herald-Dispatch ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. History ''The Herald-Dispatch'' was founded in 190 ...

Huntington, WV Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A ...

, the Charleston Gazette-Mail in

Charleston, WV Charleston is the capital and most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charleston ...

, the

Wayne County News ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. History ''The Herald-Dispatch'' was founded in 19 ...

Wayne County, WV Wayne County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,982. Its county seat is Wayne. The county was founded in 1842 and named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Wayne County ...

, the Putnam Herald in Putnam County, WV, the

Williamson Daily News The ''Williamson Daily News'' is a newspaper in Williamson, West Virginia. It was founded in 1912 and is the successor to a previous weekly effort, ''The Southern West Virginian'', founded in 1900. As of July 3, 2019, the paper publishes as a ...

in Williamson, WV, the

Logan Banner ''The Logan Banner'', originally named the Logan County Banner, is a newspaper in Logan, West Virginia owned by HD Media, LLC, parent company of ''The Herald-Dispatch'' in Huntington. Circulation is limited to Logan County and surrounding areas ...

Logan, WV Logan is a city in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. The population was 1,438 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Logan County. History What is now Logan was initially called "Islands of the Guyandot" ...

, the Coal Valley News in

Boone County, WV Boone County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,809. Its county seat is Madison. Boone County is part of the Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Leading industries and chief a ...

and the Independent Herald in

Wyoming County, WV Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the so ...

Public Sector

Along with his career in the private sector, Reynolds has used his

to serve as both a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

and an Assistant District Attorney in Huntington. Reynolds won election to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2006 and served as a

Delegate Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United ...

for West Virginia House District 17 until 2016, when he decided not to run for reelection at the end of his term. Reynolds instead announced his candidacy for the West Virginia Attorney General position that was currently held by Republican Patrick Morrisey. Reynolds particularly took issue with Morrisey's close ties with the pharmaceutical industry given West Virginia's struggle with opioids. The race was notable in the amount of outside spending on behalf of Morrisey by the Republican Attorneys General Association. In the end, the outside funding was too much Reynolds to overcome, losing the race 42% - 52%.

Elections

*2012 Redistricted to District 17 along with fellow District 16 Delegate Dale Stephens, Reynolds placed second in the three-way May 8, 2012 Democratic Primary with 2,210 votes (41.8%), and placed first in the four-way two-position November 6, 2012 General election with 7,198 votes (32.9%) ahead of Delegate Stephens (D) and Republican nominees Michael Ankrom and Joyce Holland. *2004 Reynolds ran in the six-way 2004 Democratic Primary but did not place; incumbents Greg Howard (R) and

Kelli Sobonya Kelli Sobonya (born July 13, 1963) is a former Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West ...

(R) were both re-elected along with former Delegate Dale Stephens (D) in the six-way three-position November 2, 2004 General election. *2006 Reynolds placed in the four-way 2006 Democratic Primary and was elected in the six-way three-position November 7, 2006 General election along with incumbent Delegates Sobonya (R) and Stephens (D), unseating Delegate Howard (R). *2008 Reynolds placed first in the five-way May 13, 2008 Democratic Primary with 5,573 votes (25.4%), and placed first in the four-way three-position November 4, 2008 General election with 12,462 votes (27.4%) ahead of Delegates Sobonya (R) and Stephens (D) and Democratic nominee Amy Herrenkohl. *2010 Reynolds and Delegate Stephens were unopposed for the May 11, 2010 Democratic Primary where Reynolds second with 2,941 votes (47.2%); Reynolds placed second in the four-way three-position November 2, 2010 General election with 8,900 votes (26.4%) behind Delegate Sobonya (R) and ahead of Delegate Stephens (D) and Republican nominee Tomma Anne See.

References

External links

Official page
at the West Virginia Legislature
Campaign site
*
Douglas Reynolds
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Doug Reynolds
at OpenSecrets {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Doug 1976 births Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Huntington, West Virginia People from Wayne County, West Virginia Lawyers from Huntington, West Virginia West Virginia University College of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians