Josh Holstein (born November 2, 2001) is an American politician serving as a 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 Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

from the 32nd district. Elected in November 2020, he assumed office on December 1, 2020.

Early life and education

Holstein is a native of

Ashford, West Virginia Ashford is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and once-active coal town in Boone County, West Virginia, Boone County, West Virginia, United States. Ashford was established as a coal camp and grew into a thriving mining community. H ...

. He graduated from Sherman High School and is projected to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

in 2021.

Career

In 2018, Holstein was an intern in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. During the 2018 United States Senate elections, he worked as a voter registration coordinator for the

West Virginia Republican Party The West Virginia Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in West Virginia. Mark Harris is the party chair. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all three of West Virginia's U.S. House seats ...

. Holstein was a candidate for the

in 2020. He was featured in a ''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

'' piece about young candidates for state legislatures. Holstein did not face an opponent in the Republican primary and defeated Democratic incumbent Rodney Miller in the November general election.

Political positions

Critical Race Theory

In 2021 Holstein spoke against

Critical Race Theory Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goa ...

and stated “I don’t want to see future West Virginians and future Americans growing up thinking that everyone is hateful, that everyone is looking to oppress others."

Abortion

In 2022, the West Virginia Legislature passed HB302 banned abortion in West Virginia with exceptions only for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. On September 13, 2022, Holstein joined 77 other members of the West Virginia House of Delegates by voting in favor of the bill. He was endorsed by West Virginians for Life during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holstein, Josh Living people 2001 births People from Boone County, West Virginia Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates 21st-century American politicians