Tag: Congressman Alex Mooney

State Politicians Voice Support For Harrison County Student Athletes Protesting Inclusion Of Transgender Student

Multiple West Virginia politicians have voiced their support of student athletes protesting a transgender student’s inclusion in a track and field event. 

Multiple West Virginia politicians have voiced their support of student athletes protesting a transgender student’s inclusion in a track and field event. 

Five students forfeited a shot-put competition on April 18 at the 2024 Harrison County Middle School Championships track and field meet in protest of a Fourth Circuit decision that House Bill 3293 violated Title IX protections for gender equality in school sports.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said last week that he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider BPJ vs. West Virginia State Board of Education.

Parents for four of the students have since filed suit against the Harrison County Board of Education in Harrison County Circuit Court after the students were not permitted to compete in a scheduled track and field meet on April 27.

The West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission (WVSSAC) rule book states in its section on sportsmanship that teams, coaches and attendants are required “to remain in or a part of a contest until its normal end as provided by the National Federation Rules of that particular sport.” Failure to do so, it goes on, “will not only involve ejection during that particular contest but shall also involve that student, coach or team attendant not being a part of that school’s team for the next regularly scheduled contest(s) or post season progression in a playoff tournament, as regulated in §127-4-3.7.3.”

Tuesday evening, Morrisey released a statement in support of the students, highlighting a brief he filed in favor of their suit.

“The only thing this decision does is teach these children to keep their mouths shut and not disagree with what they saw as unfairness,” he said. “That is outrageous and it tramples these students’ rights to freedom of speech and expression.”

Morrisey’s amicus brief argues that “the Code of State Rules’ provisions for handling a protest action do not justify the Defendants’ actions here, and the Free Speech implications of the school’s actions are deeply concerning.”

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, also released a statement condemning Harrison County Schools’ actions on behalf of the Senate Majority Caucus.

“Despite that procedure being clearly defined in the Code of State Rules, Harrison County Schools unilaterally decided to punish these female students by prohibiting them from competing in their next track meet,” the statement reads. “By refusing to adhere to these standards, Harrison County Schools is showing a galling lack of concern for the free-speech considerations of those students, as well as the safety of those students, because of unfair competition with males.”

Congressman Alex Mooney also released a statement regarding the “attack on women’s sports in Harrison County.”

“It is completely outrageous for a school board and coaches to punish girls for standing up for women’s sports. Young women should not be forced to compete against young men. It is asinine and unbelievable that a school in West Virginia, not California, would adopt this woke nonsense,” Mooney said.

Voter Insights: Justice Vs. Mooney U.S. Senate Primary

Political analysts say the two Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate in the upcoming May primary election give voters some particular, and troubling, food for thought.

Political analysts say the two Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate in the upcoming May primary election give voters some particular, and troubling, food for thought. The candidates themselves say voters need to focus on the positives, not the negatives.

The latest numbers from the 538 ABC News polling website offer an average of all polls available on West Virginia’s U.S. Senate race.  

538 numbers show Gov. Jim Justice getting 55 percent of the vote while U.S. Congressman Alex Mooney, R-W.Va. District 2, tallied 17 percent.   

In looking closer at the candidates’ records, Marshall University Associate professor of Political Science Marybeth Beller said voters should also know something about Justice’s legal and financial entanglements.

“Carter Bank and Trust in Virginia is preparing to auction off some of the governor’s property because he’s not paying his bills,” Beller said. “We also have a lot of people who have worked for his mines and are now retired, who say that because the governor has businesses that have not paid their premiums, their health care gets disrupted. We need to look at the service record of these people in office but also out of office.”

Asked by WVPB in a recent media briefing specifically about what voters should think regarding those legal and financial entanglements, Justice said maybe he could have done a little better, but his business issues are not germane to his political life.

“To be perfectly honest, I don’t think that this will be a distraction in any way at all. None,” Justice said. “If it did, I wouldn’t do it. I mean, why am I doing it? Randy, why am I doing it? Am I doing it for me? I mean, are you kidding me? At the end of the day, the only reason in the world that I absolutely decided to run for governor, the only reason in the world that I’ve absolutely decided to run for the Senate has nothing to do with me. Nothing to do with any of my business has nothing to do with me in any way. I just want to serve and to try to help.”

Mooney said the Justice campaign cornerstone of running for office as a successful businessman does make his legal and financial entanglements relevant to the campaign.

“He has a terrible reputation for not paying bills, and he obviously has mismanaged things,” Mooney said. “And it’s Mr. Justice criticizing me because I don’t support the overspending we’re seeing at the federal government level. We’re bankrupting our country, or we’re creating a big problem, and he’s the last guy we need in there.”

Beller said voters need to be aware of Mooney’s record when it comes to the ongoing Congressional Ethics investigation. He has been accused of accepting impermissible gifts in the form of a trip to Aruba, using official resources, including staff time, for campaign work and personal errands – and campaign disbursements that may not be legitimate.

WVPB asked the congressman how voters should consider the ethics investigation.

“We’re answering all the questions with the regular committee and dealing with that,” Mooney said. “We’re dealing with that within the proper means. The voters are concerned about issues of everyday life like inflation, and what their federal government’s going to do to make sure they can afford groceries. And so that’s what I’m focused on.”

WVPB asked, “Did any of these things really happen? These gifts and resources and campaign disbursements?”

“I’ve publicly already answered those questions,” Mooney responded. “You’re talking about stuff that’s four years old now.” 

That investigation is still pending and has not been closed. 

With such a wide-spread gap in the polls favoring Justice, Beller believes Mooney remains in heavy campaign mode by hoping voters ignore his own issues. She thinks a Mooney wish is that Justice’s legal and financial entanglement might make it impossible to hold office. 

 “If something would happen, and Justice would not be able to carry out the nomination, if he gets the nomination, then it behooves Mooney to stay in contact and let voters know about him,” Beller said.

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