Joseph de Soto
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Joseph de Soto (Republican Party) is a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 91. He assumed office on December 1, 2024. His current term ends on December 1, 2026.
De Soto (Republican Party) ran for election to the West Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 91. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
De Soto completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Joseph de Soto was born in Oxnard, California. He served in the U.S. Army from 1988 to 1992. He earned a bachelor's degree from La Sierra University, an M.D. from Howard University College of Medicine, and a Ph.D. from Howard University. His career experience includes working as a physician.[1]
De Soto has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Benefactor
- NRA
- Gun Owners of America
- West Virginia Farm Bureau
- Humane Society
- American Society of Clinical Oncology
- American Institute of Chemists
- National Right to Life
- Eastern Panhandle Business Association
Elections
2024
See also: West Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2024
General election
General election for West Virginia House of Delegates District 91
Joseph de Soto defeated Rick Thomson in the general election for West Virginia House of Delegates District 91 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joseph de Soto (R)  | 76.5 | 5,638 |
 | Rick Thomson (Constitution Party) | 23.5 | 1,731 | |
| Total votes: 7,369 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 91
Joseph de Soto defeated Tammy Hess and incumbent Don Forsht in the Republican primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 91 on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joseph de Soto | 41.6 | 724 |
| Tammy Hess | 33.4 | 581 | |
 | Don Forsht | 25.0 | 435 | |
| Total votes: 1,740 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for de Soto in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joseph de Soto completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by de Soto's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I am a a life-long conservative Physician-Scientist, Biblical Scholar, conservative writer and former Army Combat Medic. I grew up in a rural community and poor. After the army I got a job and though I worked full time, I didn't have enough money to go to school so, I became homeless as the only way to go and finish college. After some help from some good Christians I was able to complete my studies and was told to pay forward. I have tried to do that my entire life. Since, then I obtained three doctorates in Medicine, Pharmacology, and National Security and other degrees in Biophysical Chemistry and Molecular Biophysics. I finished my training at the National Institutes of Health and began working in medicine - research for the Department of Defense. During my career I was fortunate to have helped develop or increase the efficacy of four cancer drugs including Tamoxifen, Raloxifene, Fulvestrant, and Olaparib for which I received the Cancer Researcher of the Year Award. Later when COVID hit, I published 5 seminal papers on the virus and was awarded the Distinguished International Scientist Award, What I am most proud of is volunteering 5 years of my life helping out the Navajo on their reservation with medical infrastructure and education and doing this for the poor here in the Appalachia
- I believe that the role of a Delegate is to Represent and Serve. The Delegate should listen to and represent the views of his district even if he disagrees. The second responsibility is to serve, that is to help his neighbors when they have trouble with the state or local government. Few of us have the money to hire an attorney for $10,000. A simple call from a delegate to the agency is often more powerful than hiring an attorney. I will be a phone call or email away and pray daily asking God for guidance.
- “I recall when homeless in college, few were around to help, especially the government, it was a horrible feeling. Remembering this, I have dedicated my life to helping others. From being a combat medic in the army to spending 6 years on the Indian Reservations and Appalachia giving free health care/research. I still don’t charge my neighbors for this. But, you know, I wouldn’t be here if others hadn’t helped me, and they told me to pay forward , so I am doing that. So, I will probably lose $100,000 a year being a delegate, but, I think it is the best way at this time in my life to help others
- I will always be pro-life, for gun rights, for parental rights, against critical race theory, for protecting the elderly, against crony capitalism, and against transgender men in women's sports and girls shower room
Gun Rights, Pro-Life, Protecting the Elderly, Against transgender sex changes of children, Low Tax, Against Illegal Immigration, Against Vaccinations as requirement for employment.
The one God chooses for me
To be intelligent enough to understand the issues, to listen to voters, to communicate with voters, to vote as they want you to vote and to help them when the individually need help with local and state institutions
I have spent a lifetime dedicated to others
To listen to the voters, to vote as they wish, to work well with other legislatures to get things done, to have constant communication with the voters and be diligent in ones duties
To have been a good, honest, and kind person who stood for the poor, elderly, and average citizen
Working at a convenience store during high school 2 years
Bible, i grew up reading it daily
Not allowing my self to rest and enjoy life
To work together in the interest of the people not their own political career
Since the state turned red, to many liberals have pretended to be conservative and have said whatever it took to get elected. We need to get rid of these con artists
No, it is important for legislatures to listen to the voters, be intelligent to understand the issues, to vote as the voters wish and to help when the individual voter needs help
One must in order to get anything done
Larry Kump, Eric Householder, Chuck Horsht, Bill Ridenour, and Patricia Rucker for their integrity.
I will not Tempt God
Wen after being on the radio a person called me and stated that he wish his father were alive to see me ,a person of honesty, integrity and of God, I responded, I hope someday I can be that person and I am trying but only God is good...I felt the full weight of responsibility on my shoulders at that time
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, So, no emergency power our country was nearly destroyed during COVID because of it
Get rid of the exception to allow sex changes of children if they are diagnosed with sexual dysmorphia. That is an abomination,,,,and evil
NRA, Gun Owner of American, American Chemical Society, National Right to Life, Human Society, Conservative for a Better America - WV, West Virginia Farm Bureau
Judicial, Health and Human Services, Education, Veteran Affairs and Homeland Security
I believe that politicians who misuse the tax dollar should be thrown out of office and thrown in prison
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of West Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Don Forsht (R) |
West Virginia House of Delegates District 91 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
