Kanawha health officer, emergency physician embarks on Republican campaign for WV Senate

by Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
September 4, 2025

Dr. Steven Eshenaur, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, kicked off a campaign for the West Virginia Senate on Thursday.

Eshenaur has served as the KCHD public health officer and executive director since March 2022. He’s also currently serving as the Fayette County health officer. 

He’s running as a Republican for the 8th district state Senate seat, which is currently held by Sen. T. Kevan Bartlett, also a Republican. That district represents Clay and Roane counties, as well as portions of Kanawha, Wirt, Jackson and Putnam counties. 

“Over the last few years in public health, I’ve had the opportunity to educate members of the Legislature about health issues,” Eshenaur said. “Now, I’ve felt the need to join them to provide additional medical expertise and to work to improve the lives of all West Virginians.”

According to the West Virginia Secretary of State, Bartlett has filed precandidacy paperwork to keep his current position in the upcoming 2026 election. Bartlett was appointed to the state Senate in January to fill the seat after former Sen. Mark Hunt won the election as state auditor.

Kanawha County Commissioner Lance Wheeler, a Republican, is also campaigning for the seat.

One other candidate, Chase Linko-Looper, is listed as a precandidate and running for the seat as a member of the Mountain Party.

Eshenaur said he felt “extremely strong” about his chances in what is already shaping up to be a crowded Republican primary. 

In addition to his role at the health department, Eshenaur still works rotating shifts as an emergency department physician at WVU-Jackson General Hospital in Ripley, and two other regional hospitals. With 30 years of service in the U.S. Army, he previously served as the state surgeon for the West Virginia National Guard, as well as medical director at Summit Bechtel Reserve.

Eshenaur said that while his career has focused on public health and health policy — Eshenaur holds a Masters of Business Administration for health care management as well as being a doctor of osteopathic medicine — his 2026 state Senate campaign will focus largely on job creation and improving the economy.

He’s the owner of Trophy Whitetail Hunts in Kenna, a small business that runs hunting tours for paying clients. He also operates the lodge attached to the hunting grounds.

“That’s the most important piece I want to add to the Legislature — a focus on our economy. It’s the tide that rises all ships,” Eshenaur said. “I have experienced the challenges of doing business in West Virginia and the importance of supporting businesses so that they can provide better opportunities for our workers.”

Eshenaur said he’s concerned about continual moves at the Legislature to repeal Certificate of Need. Working in rural hospitals, he said, he sees firsthand how critical they are to keeping communities safe. He said he worries that CON repeal could threaten those small, critical access hospitals.

“I’m just not sure we can afford that risk,” Eshenaur said. 

As a health officer, Eshenaur has been vocally opposed to legislative attempts to water down West Virginia’s stringent vaccine requirements for school-aged children. He has testified to the Legislature regarding the importance of mandating childhood vaccines for public health and has criticized claims from people who say loosening the state’s vaccine requirements won’t threaten community health. 

West Virginia state law includes some of the strongest childhood immunization policies in the country. For the past several years, however, a growing faction of Republican lawmakers have moved to remove those policies due to concerns over personal freedom. 

Bartlett, in the 2025 legislative session, voted in support of legislation to add non-medical exemptions to the state’s school vaccine requirements. That bill ultimately failed in the House, however an executive order from Gov. Patrick Morrisey to do the same is still in effect. Litigation is still ongoing regarding the executive order. 

Eshenaur said he remains steadfast in his support for common-sense public health policy — including strong childhood vaccine requirements, which are likely to reemerge in the next legislative session. 

Using his background — and his experience still regularly treating patients in rural West Virginia — he wants to educate members of the Senate on these issues to form better policy.

“I’ve demonstrated a lifetime of serving West Virginians, from first going to war as a member of the West Virginia National Guard at 20 years old until today,” Eshenaur said. “I want to continue to serve them with the same grit and resiliency that I was raised with.”

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