According to CNN, redistricting has resulted in a fierce dispute among Republicans over who should return to Washington and who should stay at home as a result of the loss of a seat in the United States House of Representatives for West Virginia.
And, like in many GOP primaries around the country, Donald Trump’s clout is at the center of the battle as the two contenders engage in “vicious” attacks, according to CNN’s Dan Merica and Jeff Simon.
Republican Reps. Alex Mooney and David McKinley, according to the story, are hurling allegations at one other, with Mooney leveraging the former president’s endorsement against his Republican colleague.
“The latest round of redistricting and West Virginia’s shrinking population left the state with one fewer congressional district, forcing years-long colleagues McKinley and Mooney to run against each other. The primary has turned into a clash of styles, with McKinley running more on what he has accomplished in Congress and attacking Mooney for moving to West Virginia from Maryland in the last decade, while Mooney runs as the archconservative in the race, hammering his opponent for working with Democrats and voting for the infrastructure bill backed by President Joe Biden,” reports CNN.
According to the research,”On paper, McKinley has an advantage over Mooney. The congressman, who was first elected in 2010, touts himself as a seventh-generation West Virginian, a powerful factor in a state that traditionally rejects out-of-state influence. And the newly drawn district is almost entirely made up of counties McKinley formerly represented, hampering Mooney, who must introduce himself to a new set of voters.”
However, Donald Trump is popular in the conservative state, and Mooney is capitalizing on it by launching personal Trump-style assaults on McKinley, including commercials accusing him of participating in “Pelosi’s anti-Trump, January 6th witch hunt.”
In response, McKinley “has responded by portraying Mooney as a Washington insider and labeling him a carpetbagger, noting that the Trump-backed candidate was a one-term state senator in neighboring Maryland from 2006 to 2010 and moved to West Virginia within the last decade,” CNN reported.
McKinley has also stood firm on his infrastructure vote. Instead, McKinley has used the vote to highlight how he serves his constituents, mentioning specific projects in northern West Virginia that would benefit from federal infrastructure funding as often as his opponent criticizes him for it.
In an interview after the law passed, McKinley defended his vote, even as his Republican opponent tries to use it to bring him down.
“I’ve waited 11 years to try to bring back something to West Virginia that will markedly improve our quality of life,” McKinley told a local outlet shortly after the vote. “If I wanted to make a political statement, I could have done a ‘no’ vote. That’s not what I did. I voted for West Virginia, and I have no qualms.”
Mooney is also attempting to imply that McKinley supported Biden’s bigger spending package, which he did not.
That false charge piqued Manchin’s interest in the campaign. The Democratic senator, who has enraged Democrats for months by working to isolate the infrastructure bill from Biden’s broader social spending plan, called McKinley and said he was “pissed” after witnessing “someone who doesn’t know my state and is lying” about McKinley’s record.
“For Alex Mooney and his out-of-state supporters to suggest David McKinley supported Build Back Better is an outright lie. David McKinley has always opposed reckless spending because it doesn’t make sense for West Virginia,” Manchin says in the ad supporting McKinley. “Alex Mooney has proven he’s all about Alex Mooney.”
Manchin has gone even further, going on a local radio show and calling his opponent “Maryland Mooney” and suggesting that he relocated from Maryland to West Virginia for “political opportunity,” a maneuver straight out of Trump’s playbook.
McKinley has an advantage over Mooney on paper. The congressman, who was first elected in 2010, emphasizes his status as a seventh-generation West Virginian, a significant element in a state that has generally shied away from outside influence. And Mooney’s newly defined district is almost completely made up of counties McKinley previously represented, making it difficult for him to meet new people.
Trump, on the other hand, remains extremely popular in the state. In both 2016 and 2020, the former President carried every county in West Virginia, garnering more than 68 percent of the vote against Biden. His influence may be evident everywhere, especially in yards where the previous President’s yard signs and flags are still displayed.
McKinley is far from an anti-Trump Republican; throughout his four years in office, the congressman voted against both impeachments of the former President and constantly stood by him. There are indications that McKinley recognizes that Trump’s support may be the most critical element in the election.
The narrator of one commercial in which McKinley attacks Mooney for an investigation into suspected government waste has a clear message for West Virginia voters: “President Trump was robbed.”
UPDATE: Rep. Alex Mooney defeated Rep. David McKinley in the GOP primary for West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday, a victory for former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Mooney.
