Eric Porterfield

Eric Earl Porterfield (born November 17, 1974) is an American politician and a former Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 27, which includes parts of Mercer and Raleigh counties. First elected in 2018, Porterfield is the second blind person ever to serve in the West Virginia legislature. Alongside being known for being a physically disabled politician, Porterfield is also well known for his unwavering opposition to rights for LGBT people, who he has compared to terrorists and the Ku Klux Klan. He is on video expressing that, should his daughter or son come out gay, he would "see if they knew how to swim", implying he would drown them. In the June 2020 primary he was defeated in his bid for re-election, coming in last of Republican candidates running.

Early life and education Porterfield was born and raised in Princeton, West Virginia. Describing himself as a "pretty wild, out-of-control teenager", he later attended a Bible college at age 20. In 2006, at age 32, he was blinded as a result of a head injury received in a physical altercation. Porterfield has not discussed the cause or nature of the altercation, noting: "I can't fully get into all the details of it, because there's still some stuff pending on it, but a major altercation with a multitude of men ended up leaving me instantaneously blind on December 10, 2006." The responding officer indicated that he saw two individuals "jump" Porterfield after a verbal argument with Porterfield and another man, later identified as Steve McPherson. When the officer asked Porterfield what happened, Porterfield responded: "[You're] a cop so fucking figure it out." In a sworn deposition taken November 25, 2008, Porterfield stated he and McPherson arrived at Cavanaugh's around 11:00 p.m. on December 9, 2006, after leaving a strip club in Harvey, Illinois. According to the police report, a verbal altercation began shortly after 3:00 a.m. in the bar's parking lot after McPherson touched a woman without her consent. Porterfield was defeated in his re-election bid on June 9, 2020, coming in last of Republican candidates running.

He ran for the West Virginia State Senate, District 6, in 2024, placing third out of three Republican candidates in a primary. He ran for the same seat in 2026, but lost in the primary. Political views Porterfield strongly opposes LGBT rights. In February 2019, Porterfield faced criticism and calls to resign after he made a series of homophobic comments. After using the slur "faggot" in committee on February 6 while advocating for an amendment that would nullify local LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances, he appeared in interviews on February 8 calling the LGBT community "a modern day version of the Ku Klux Klan" and a "terrorist group". On February 10, when asked during a television interview on WVVA what he would do if his son and daughter ever came out to him as gay, Porterfield repeatedly responded that he would "see if they could swim" and declined to clarify what he meant. This was taken by many as implying he would drown them, though Porterfield later rejected this interpretation. West Virginia Republican Party chair Melody Potter denounced Porterfield's words as unacceptable, saying further that they were "hateful, hurtful, and do not reflect the values of our country, our state, and the Republican Party". In response, Porterfield refused to apologize and doubled-down on his original statements, calling LGBTQ people "brutal monsters".

Election results

Personal life Porterfield married Jessica and has two children, Beth and John. They live in Princeton. He founded Blind Faith Ministries in 2012 and has done missionary work with the group in South Sudan, Venezuela, and Cuba. He is a member and holds a position at Rich Creek Baptist Church in Spanishburg, West Virginia. The pastor of Rich Creek Baptist, Jamie Mattox, is also Vice Chairman of Porterfield's Blind Faith Ministries. He is legally blind.