Iranian immigrant Parsi wins Democratic primary for U.S. House district 2

Ace Parsi, an Iranian immigrant and Morgantown community organizer, has narrowly won the Democratic primary for U.S. House district 2.

The Associated Press called the race for Parsi around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, a day after Tuesday’s election.  

Parsi pulled in 17,696 votes and Stephanie Spears Tomana received 16,908 votes, according to preliminary results. U.S. Navy veteran Steve Wendelin received 9,980 votes in the race.

Parsi, a Morgantown community organizer, immigrated from Iran to the United States with this family when he was 8 years old. His brother was about to be conscripted into the military. 

He served as the coalition engagement director for iCivics, a coalition of national groups that support civics and history education, before leaving the role earlier this year to run for Congress.

Speaking to West Virginia Watch Thursday, Parsi remarked about how improbable it is for him to have made his way from a country with what he called an “authoritarian regime” to having his name on the ballot in a democracy. 

“It highlights to me what I really want to fight for when I think about my daughter’s future, is like, how do we make a country and our community better?” he said. “And I feel really touched. I feel grateful. I’m not one of those people that thinks we do anything alone. 

“I’m grateful to our volunteers and the people who’ve lent their talents and treasure. So I feel grateful. I feel the weight of the moment, and I feel excited. I feel like we have lots of great ideas and things to now just get going with the general campaign.”

Tomana, a Fairmont teacher, said in a statement on Facebook Wednesday that given how close the results were, she would wait to see what the final results are once election results are official. 

“In a time when democracy is being tested, we owe it to the people of this state to let the process play out, to count every valid vote, and to let election officials finish their work,” she said in a Facebook post Wednesday night. “We released this statement early this morning and continue to stand by it. That said, I would like to say thank you, though it is simply not enough.”

Parsi will face incumbent Congressman Riley Moore, R-W.Va., in the general election. Moore was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Parsi said he would welcome having town hall debates with Moore in “every county” in the district.

“I think West Virginians deserve that. Even if they don’t vote for me, they deserve that,” Parsi said. “So I hope that (Moore) stands up to that sort of campaign, because I think West Virginians deserve a real campaign of ideas.”