Saira Blair, born 1996
West Virginia Legislature
Blair became a media sensation in November
2014, after the 18-year-old Republican won a
seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
The college freshman at West Virginia
University was interviewed by outlets ranging
from The Washington Post and Time magazine
to Teen Vogue. “I’ve taken more criticism in
the past year doing this than I would have in
10 years if I wasn’t doing this,” Blair told
HuffPost, “but it’s worth it.”
Her father, Craig Blair, is a Republican
lawmaker, too, in the state Senate. But in
some respects the daughter, who represents a
rural district, is actually more conservative. He
supports access to the morning-after pill, for
example, while she opposes it. The current
legislative session has only been going since
January and hasn’t yet afforded them the
opportunity to cast opposing votes, though she
said with a laugh, “It will probably happen
soon!”
Blair said the most difficult part of her new
role so far is living full-time in the state
capital of Charleston, five hours away from
her hometown of Martinsburg. Her favorite
part is learning about so many different areas
of public policy that she wouldn’t have even
considered previously. “were just dealing
with a bill regarding regulation of barbers and
cosmetologists, which I didn’t know anything
about before,” Blair said. She added that it will
definitely give her a different perspective the
next time she gets a haircut.
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