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Diane Market Gaston

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Diane Market Gaston

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Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Associate

Virginia Western Community College

Bachelor's

Ferrum College

Graduate

West Virginia University

Personal
Religion
Roman Catholic
Profession
Social worker
Contact

Diane Market Gaston (Democratic Party) ran for election to the West Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 78. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Market Gaston completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Diane Market Gaston earned an associate degree from the Virginia Western Community College, a bachelor's degree from Ferrum College, and a graduate degree from West Virginia University. Her career experience includes working in social work through direct practice, teaching, and management. She has been affiliated with Womens Giving Circle, Rotary, and NASW.[1]

Elections

2024

See also: West Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2024

General election

General election for West Virginia House of Delegates District 78

Incumbent Eugene Chiarelli defeated Diane Market Gaston in the general election for West Virginia House of Delegates District 78 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Eugene Chiarelli
Eugene Chiarelli (R)
 
55.7
 
4,641
Diane Market Gaston (D) Candidate Connection
 
44.3
 
3,694

Total votes: 8,335
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 78

Diane Market Gaston advanced from the Democratic primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 78 on May 14, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Diane Market Gaston Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
1,226

Total votes: 1,226
Candidate Connection = 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 78

Incumbent Eugene Chiarelli advanced from the Republican primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 78 on May 14, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Eugene Chiarelli
Eugene Chiarelli
 
100.0
 
1,603

Total votes: 1,603
Candidate Connection = 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

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Market Gaston in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Diane Market Gaston completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Market Gaston's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I grew up in a blue collar working class family. After High School I attended a Vocational Technical School and worked as a dental assistant. I began my college career when I was 24 and over the following several years earned my Bachelors degree, then my Masters degree in Social Work, and finally my Special Education teaching certificate.

My career in Social Work took me down many paths. I worked in Mental Health Centers, hospitals and emergency departments. My main and primary focus was in the field of addiction. I was with Chestnut Ridge Hospital and the Department of Behavior Medicine and Psychiatry in direct practice, teaching, and managing a department.

I am a widow. I have a daughter Samantha, her husband Dave, my two grandchildren Michael 9 and Lillian 7 who all live in Morgantown. My son Ben and his wife Keshia also live in Morgantown. We live on a small farm in the 78th district with horses, a donkey, (Judy Marie)cats, dogs, and whatever strays show up.

I am devoted to my family, friends , god children and women in my circle. I am passionate about West Virginia and all of its people.
  • Let’s return to our core West Virginia values. Our Appalachian culture holds dear our independence, self reliance, our resiliency, love of the land-which is our sense of place, our strong connection to family and neighbors. And with that comes our respect for one another and tolerance to each persons and families decision to do what is right for them. And we expect that respect to be returned. We have strayed from these values as our current government has over reached into our personal and family lives.
  • Our legislative body has failed in meeting the needs of the people. They failed to address our incarceration crisis. They failed to fund the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) waiver, leaving the most vulnerable of our population with little to no assistance. More than 200K West Virginians lost Medicaid or Chip. They did not address our child care issues. Our Foster Care crisis. We have to do better. We have lost population and not assisting our most vulnerable of citizens, we will remain at the bottom of our 50 states.
  • I fiercely believe in giving people a leg up. We give them assistance, help them up, and they do the work. We need to supplement our working citizens and parents. When they are working but not making a living wage, we assist with child care vouchers. We assist with health insurance. We assist with nutrition (SNAP) This all or nothing, black and white thinking does nothing in terms of assisting folks. It is not realistic, and our people are hurt. Our citizens leave the state. We continue to rank at the bottom of all states.We have to do better
Health Care/women’s health

Education/ teachers supported
Support of the working citizens/support of Unions
Addiction services
Child welfare services
Roads
Small business
Marginalized folks

Taking care of our land
My husband Bill Gaston. He was the strongest person I ever met. He suffered from Muscular Dystrophy. If he fell, he could not get up off the floor without help. If he was sitting and lost his balance, he could not right himself without assistance. Yet he got up everyday and took the risks, over and over again. He worked up to his final days. He never stopped trying. He accepted and adjusted to each time his body failed him. He never gave up. Strong.

Dr Rolly Sullivan. He focused his career in the field of addictions. He began an inpatient addiction Program at Chestnut Ridge Hospital. He was curious, thoughtful, and listened to the suffering addict ,putting all of his acquired knowledge into action. He would share ,teach, and assist any and all students or cohorts in learning the invaluable aspects of the disease of addiction.

Dolly Parton I admire her ability to use laughter to connect people. She has an uncanny ability to touch people across all socioeconomic barriers, and people from diverse backgrounds to find compassion and common ground.

Gloria Steinem She brought women’s issues to the forefront of our society. She inspired untold numbers of men and women.
Eleanor Roosevelt and Frances Perkins are two women who have worked tirelessly to assist working people, women, safety in the workplace and the elderly.
An elected official must perform a precarious balancing act, making decisions to meet the needs of their constituents. As well as the ability to negotiate and compromise. A good steward of the taxpayers dollar. A high regard for inclusiveness and compassion.
I am a Social Worker. I have been with many people from many backgrounds. I listen and work very hard to find compromise,common ground and to listen.
Legislative leadership can meet and talk with Governor creating an outline for legislative focus. That leadership can guide the legislators and when problems occur, leadership can confer and consult with the Governor.
Fixing roads so new incoming business see pride in our State.

Creating a quality educational system so new and small businesses are attracted to this State because of the good quality of life.

Creating an environment for working citizens to compete in the new and changing job environment.
No. I believe delegates can bring their own mastery of their skills to build a strong legislative body with much diversity and knowledge.
And we need seasoned legislators to assist and mentor the new incoming class. Thus learning the processes.
Democracy is all about relationships, compromise, and building coalitions .The only way compromise can be reached is through trust and relationships.
We currently live in a dichotomous world where people are stuck to one thing, one way, their way. That is not how Democracy works.
Barbara Evans Fleischauer. She is a strong leader who works tirelessly for her constituents. And Evan Hansen as he is a strong protector of our environment.
Education

Economic Development and Tourism
Health and Human Resources
Senior,Children, and Family Issues

Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse

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.


Diane Market Gaston campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* West Virginia House of Delegates District 78Lost general$41,736 $37,289
Grand total$41,736 $37,289
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 19, 2024


Current members of the West Virginia House of Delegates
Leadership
Minority Leader:Sean Hornbuckle
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
Bill Bell (R)
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
Mark Dean (R)
District 35
District 36
S. Green (R)
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
Carl Roop (R)
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
Tom Clark (R)
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
JB Akers (R)
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
District 70
District 71
District 72
District 73
District 74
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
District 81
District 82
District 83
District 84
District 85
District 86
District 87
District 88
District 89
District 90
District 91
District 92
District 93
District 94
District 95
District 96
District 97
S. Anders (R)
District 98
District 99
District 100
Republican Party (91)
Democratic Party (9)