Rosemary Ketchum announced that she is running for mayor of Wheeling.
If elected in 2024, Rosemary Ketchum would become only the second woman to serve as Wheeling Mayor, and the first transgender person elected mayor in West Virginia history.
Ketchum served in leadership roles at the ACLU of WV, West Virginia Center On Budget and Policy, Wheeling Arts Commission, and the Friendlier City Project among others. Her efforts have been chronicled in a PBS Documentary, as well as Time Magazine, MSNBC, and CNBC.
Ketchum says in four years of Council she has led the charge on a number of major advances that include: the creation of a city office for a Homeless Coordinator, the creation of the Upper Floor Development Program, leading ed the charge for revitalized Centre Market Commission, increasing access to public transportation through Ohio Valley Public Transit Authority, increasing funding for Wheeling Arts Commission, and championed a Homeowner Repair Assistance Program.
Ketchum is currently on the Wheeling City Council for Ward 3. She made her announcement at Centre Market in Wheeling
When elected in 2020, Ketchum was the first out transgender woman to be elected in the state of West Virginia, and she was among only one of 27 in the whole country.
