Tag: David McKinley

2022 Midterms: What To Watch In Nebraska And W.Va.

In West Virginia, two incumbent congressmen are facing off in a Republican primary after redistricting cost the state a seat in the U.S. House.

The top race in Tuesday’s primary elections in Nebraska and West Virginia is a heavily contested Republican primary for Nebraska governor, featuring a Donald Trump-endorsed candidate who has been accused of groping multiple women.

Voters in Nebraska will also be nominating candidates to replace former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican convicted in March on charges he lied to federal authorities about an illegal campaign contribution he received from a Nigerian billionaire.

In West Virginia, two incumbent congressmen are facing off in a Republican primary after redistricting cost the state a seat in the U.S. House.

What to watch as Tuesday’s primaries unfold:

How Much Sway Does Trump Have In Nebraska?

In Nebraska’s Republican primary for governor, Trump has endorsed Charles Herbster, a wealthy agribusinessman and cattle breeder who has positioned himself as a political outsider.

Herbster has recently faced allegations that he groped young women, including a Nebraska state senator and a former legislative staffer. He vehemently denies the accusations and has filed a defamation lawsuit against the lawmaker, state Sen. Julie Slama. She filed a countersuit, accusing Herbster of sexual battery. Despite the allegations, Trump has stood by Herbster and appeared with him at a rally last week.

His main rival is University of Nebraska regent Jim Pillen, a former college football player and veterinarian who owns a hog farm operation and swine breeding-stock company. Pillen has won support from high-profile conservatives, including Gov. Pete Ricketts, former Gov. Kay Orr, the influential Nebraska Farm Bureau and former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne.

And in a surprising twist, state Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha has risen to top-tier status as well with support from Omaha’s Republican mayor and ads in which he pitches himself as a “new generation” of leader. He is considered the more moderate option to Herbster and Pillen.

The winner of the GOP primary is expected to face state Sen. Carol Blood, who is all but certain to win the Democratic nomination for governor over a little-known candidate who hasn’t actively campaigned.

How Did A Congressman’s Conviction Reshape The Primary?

U.S. House primary races are usually low-key affairs in Nebraska, with little turnover among the Republican incumbents. But the state has an open seat this year following Fortenberry’s resignation.

Fortenberry initially planned to seek reelection to a 10th term despite a federal indictment and launched attack ads against his main challenger, Republican state Sen. Mike Flood. He dropped his bid after his conviction, and Flood gained momentum with endorsements from Ricketts and former Gov. Dave Heineman.

Flood is now the strong favorite to win the nomination for the 1st Congressional District out of a field of five Republican candidates. Fortenberry’s name will still appear on the ballot because he withdrew after the state’s deadline to certify candidates.

The GOP nominee is expected to face Democratic state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks in November. Pansing Brooks is running against University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Jazari Kual Zakaria in the Democratic primary.

Flood and Pansing Brooks will also face each other in a June 28 special election to decide who serves the rest of Fortenberry’s term. The November general election will determine who fills the seat starting in January 2023.

The 1st Congressional District encompasses a stretch of eastern Nebraska, excluding Omaha and most of its suburbs. The Republican-leaning district includes Lincoln as well as large stretches of farmland and small towns.

How Much Do Infrastructure Improvements Matter to West Virginia Voters?

A Republican primary in West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District between two incumbents could hang on support for President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law in the GOP-leaning state.

One of the incumbents, Rep. David McKinley, was among 13 House Republicans to vote for the bill. He cited the state’s “D” infrastructure grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers, saying it would have been a betrayal to vote based on “party politics” on an issue so important to residents.

West Virginia, one of the nation’s poorest states, is slated to get $6 billion in infrastructure money.

The other incumbent, Rep. Alex Mooney, voted against the infrastructure bill and won Trump’s endorsement the day Biden signed the measure into law. Mooney and Trump have called McKinley and other Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill RINOs, or “Republicans In Name Only.” Mooney called the bill “Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s spending masterplan” and said it will contribute to inflation.

While in Congress, McKinley and Mooney voted together the vast majority of the time. But the infrastructure vote will serve as a test of Trump’s clout in a state that wholeheartedly embraced him in two presidential elections.

___

Associated Press writer Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Grant Schulte on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrantSchulte

___

Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics

Nanotechnology Company Moves to W.Va.

A new high tech company is coming to the Northern Panhandle.

A new high tech company is coming to the Northern Panhandle.

Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Rep. David McKinley were in Triadelphia, West Virginia Thursday to welcome manufacturer Veloxint to the Millenium Center research campus.

The company researches and hopes to produce nanocrystalline metal alloys for high-performance products such as jet engines and power generation equipment using technology under license from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Veloxint and Touchstone Research Laboratory CEO Brian Joseph explained how innovative the technology is.

“For 50 years, it’s been the dream of material scientists to come up with a nanocrystalline grain structure,” Joseph said. “The smaller the grains in metal, the stronger it is. Nano would be the absolute perfect thing.”

McKinley praised Joseph for ushering a new era of industry to the state.

“He’s bringing in a new breed of West Virginia way. We can research and find it so that our kids don’t have to leave, they’re gonna find jobs here, because of the research being done at Touchstone,” McKinley said.

The West Virginia Department of Economic Development estimates 200 to 300 jobs will be created by the company’s move.

Cheat River Bridge On Corridor H Moves Forward

Gov. Jim Justice, Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Congressman David McKinley on Tuesday kicked off the construction of the Cheat River Bridge on Corridor H.

When completed, the 3,300-foot span will be one of the longest in West Virginia.

Corridor H is part of the Appalachian Development Highway System and one of the last segments to be built.

McKinley noted that the first piece of the road opened 50 years ago under Gov. Arch Moore, Capito’s father.

“If this Corridor H had been connected to Charleston, to Wheeling, or Parkersburg or to Morgantown,” McKinley said. “it would have been finished by now.”

McKinley was one of 13 House Republicans to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure law last year. The law will help enable the completion of Corridor H, which starts in Weston and goes to the Virginia state line.

The Cheat River Bridge will cost $148 million to build.

In Mooney-McKinley Republican Primary, Who Has The Advantage?

Two West Virginia members of the U.S. House of Representatives will face each other in next year’s Republican primary.

Because of population loss in the 2020 Census, West Virginia lost one of its three House seats.

After redistricting, incumbent representatives Alex Mooney and David McKinley are running against each other.

They’re both Republicans, and they voted the same way 87% of the time in their last term.

But, that’s where the similarities end.

McKinley, a native of Wheeling, is in his sixth term representing northern West Virginia. He was previously a member of the state House of Delegates and chaired the state Republican party.

Mooney, of Charles Town, is in his fourth term. He moved to the eastern panhandle in 2014 after serving as chairman of the Maryland Republican Party. His current district includes Charleston.

While McKinley is well-established in West Virginia, it may take more to win in the new district.

Mooney has more than $2.7 million in his campaign account, while McKinley has $630,000.

@RepAlexMooney
/
Twitter
Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., with former President Donald Trump.

Mooney also has an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who remains popular in West Virginia.

“It’s setting up as a very interesting and probably pretty competitive primary,” said Kyle Kondik, an election analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Kondik initially thought McKinley had the edge because he’s more familiar to West Virginia voters.

But, he added, Trump’s endorsement and a bigger fundraising haul boosts Mooney’s chances.

“McKinley starts with an advantage because of geography,” Kondik said. “And then it’s a question of, ‘how does Mooney overcome that?’ Well, a Trump endorsement and having more money, those are two things that are helpful.”

Another issue that could cut both ways: infrastructure.

McKinley was one of 13 House Republicans to vote for a bipartisan infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed into law.

Mooney voted against it, and Trump mentioned that specifically in his endorsement.

Still, the law delivers plenty of needed investment to West Virginia. It includes money for roads and bridges, broadband, drinking water, abandoned mine lands and orphaned oil and gas wells.

The primary is set for May 10. Until then, West Virginians can expect to see a flurry of advertising from both candidates on who will best represent the new 2nd district.

W.Va. Congressional Redistricting Map Sent To Governor

A congressional redistricting map that would pit two incumbent U.S. House members from West Virginia in the 2022 Republican primary has been sent to Gov. Jim Justice.

The House of Delegates passed the map 84-12 Thursday with four members absent. The state Senate approved the map Wednesday.

After the 2020 census, West Virginia lost one of its three U.S. House seats. The approved map would combine most of the current districts of U.S. Reps. David McKinley and Alex Mooney into the new northern 2nd District. Rep. Carol Miller would be in the new 1st District. All three are Republicans.

The map deviates from the ideal population of 896,858 in each new district by about 1,500 people, placing more residents in the northern district.

The new 2nd District would run from Wood County along the Ohio River to the Eastern Panhandle and include the Northern Panhandle.

Miller’s new district includes the southern part of the state and takes in north-central Gilmer County from McKinley’s former district. From Mooney’s old district it grabs the Charleston area and several surrounding counties along with Pendleton County along the Virginia line.

McKinley is in his sixth term and Mooney his fourth. McKinley, 74, founded a Wheeling architectural and engineering firm and is a former state GOP chairman and a seventh-generation West Virginian. Mooney, 50, is a former Maryland state senator and Maryland Republican Party chairman who moved about 25 miles (40 kilometers) in 2013 from Frederick, Maryland, to Charles Town, West Virginia.

Miller, a 70-year-old Huntington resident, is in her second term. She previously served in the House of Delegates for 12 years and is the daughter of the late Ohio U.S. Rep. Samuel Devine.

On May 19, 2021, McKinley was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to support an independent commission on the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Mooney and Miller voted against the legislation, which was later blocked by Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

The House later approved its own 13-member special committee to probe the violent attack. McKinley, Miller and Mooney voted against the committee’s formation.

In other action, the Senate postponed a third reading of its 17-district redistricting bill until Friday. The Senate also must take up the House’s redistricting map. The House passed a new single-member district system for all 100 delegates on Wednesday, a change mandated by 2018 legislation. Currently, there are 67 districts and more than half of the House is elected from multiple-member districts.

Regional Reaction To Iran: Ohio Valley Lawmakers Split On U.S. Killing Of Iranian Commander

This story was update at 4:15 pm with Sen. Joe Manchin’s statement. 

Congressional members around the Ohio Valley offered mixed reactions to the U.S. airstrike that killed one of Iran’s top military officers and pushed the two countries closer to war. 

Most statements from regional lawmakers pointed to Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani’s record of orchestrating violent attacks on U.S. personnel, and many Republicans praised President Donald Trump for ordering the drone missile strike that killed Soleimani in Baghdad.  

However, some Democrats were sharply critical, and a few within Trump’s own party voiced concerns about the administration’s strategy, and urged the president to seek Congressional approval before sending the nation to war.

Kentucky Delegation

“Iran’s master terrorist is dead,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said of Soleimani in remarks from the Senate floor Friday. “He personally oversaw the state terrorism Iran used to kill our sons and daughters.”

McConnell said the Trump administration will be briefing staff and that a classified Senate briefing was being arranged for the coming week.

Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican who represents Kentucky’s 6th District, said via Twitter that the strike was “a massive victory for our Armed Forces,” and 1st District Republican Rep. James Comer said in a statement that he applauds the “courageous action in taking out a brutal terrorist.”

However, some other Kentucky Republicans voiced concern about a rush to war.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who is often a wary outlier within his party on questions of military use, cautioned against a rush to war without Congressional approval.

“A war without a Congressional declaration is a recipe for feckless intermittent eruptions of violence w/ no clear mission for our soldiers,” Paul wrote in a series of statements on Twitter. “Our young men and women in the armed services deserve better.”

Paul said that Soleimani was “an evil man” who ordered the killing of Americans, but said that is not the main question. 

“The question today is whether the assassination of Soleimani will expand the war to endanger the lives of every American soldier or diplomat in the Middle East?” he said.

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky’s 4th District said via Twitter Friday morning that “War propaganda is a powerful drug and so readily available right now.” In an earlier tweet before the airstrike Massie said, “We need to get out of the wars in the Middle East…not start another one.”

Kentucky’s lone Congressional Democrat, 3rd District Rep. John Yarmuth, said he was “deeply concerned by President Trump’s rapid escalation of hostilities with Iran and the lack of any discernible concern for the consequences.”

Yarmuth questioned why there was no support from U.S. allies, no apparent strategy, and no input from Congress.  

“The Trump administration must come before Congress to provide an explanation of what has happened thus far, what they believe might warrant further military action, and why they have brought us to the precipice of yet another deadly, open-ended war in the Middle East,” he said.

Ohio Delegation

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown was sharply critical of the Trump administration for its “apparent lack of coordination” before ordering the strike in Iraq.

“We can’t let this Administration’s chaotic foreign policy lead to another war in the Middle East,” Brown said. “The U.S. must do all it can with our allies to de-escalate the situation.”

Brown said the highest priority is to keep Americans out of harm’s way, and prevent further escalation.

“With increased tensions in the region, and the likelihood that Iran will respond in some way to this strike, the Administration must immediately brief Congress on last night’s strike, its apparent lack of coordination with Iraq’s government and any plans it has made to keep Americans safe,” Brown said.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman said via Twitter that he is monitoring the situation in Iraq and looking forward to a full briefing by the administration. He said Soleimani has been responsible for the deaths of many Americans and that “Iranian aggression must not go unchecked.”

Portman serves on both the Senate Foreign Relations and Homeland Security Committees.

Republican Rep. Bill Johnson from Ohio’s 6th District said in a statement that Soleimani’s death is “welcome news to all who oppose the Iranian regime’s unchecked aggression in the Middle East.”

West Virginia Delegation

West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said in a statement that Soleimani has been “a leader of the world’s greatest state sponsor of terrorism.

“There is no question that Soleimani is responsible for the murders of many Americans, and he was actively plotting to kill more,” she said, and blamed Iran for sponsoring the recent attack on the U.S. embassy in Iraq. “Yesterday’s action demonstrated that Iranian terrorism will not be tolerated,” she said.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said in a statement that Soleimani was “a terrorist who did not value human life” and that he was a “persistent threat to American troops and regional stability.”

However, Manchin added, the Trump administration should fully inform Congress of the circumstances that justified the military action, and of the plans going forward. 

“Congress cannot be left in the dark on operations of this magnitude, and the Administration must brief Congress on what imminent threat made it necessary to take him out now,” Manchin said. “I urge Administration officials to brief all members of Congress so we may better understand the circumstances surrounding the strike, potential retaliation scenarios, and the US government’s next steps in deescalating conflict in the region, both militarily and diplomatically.”

Manchin serves on the Senate’s Armed Services Committee where he is ranking member of the Cybersecurity Subcommittee. As the sole remaining Congressional Democrat in a very red state, Manchin has a pattern of defecting from Democrats to support Trump on some issues. For example, he was among a half-dozen Democrats to cross party lines to confirm Trump’s nominee Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State.

Rep. David McKinley of West Virginia’s 1st District said in a statement that “President Trump responded appropriately by striking the leader orchestrating the attacks,” on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

This story will be updated as more information is available.
 
With contributions from Ohio Valley ReSource staff, Ryland Barton of Kentucky Public Radio, and Dave Mistich of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.  

Exit mobile version