The former West Virginia campaign director for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has launched her own campaign to unseat Republican Congressman Alex Mooney.
Talley Sergent, a Charleston resident and former U.S. State Department employee, says West Virginians are worried about their health care, jobs and future.
She says Mooney voted to repeal and replace the Affordable Care with a Republican substitute that would take away health care for many.
The 37-year-old native of Huntington has also worked for the Coca-Cola Co. and currently has her own small company in Charleston.
Mooney, re-elected to a second term last year, says he voted to repeal “Obamacare” as he’d promised in his campaign and to replace it with “free-market solutions” he says will increase access to care and lower costs for West Virginians.
With 15 months to go until Election Day, yet another candidate has added his name to the list of those vying for Democrat Joe Manchin's seat in the U.S.…
With 15 months to go until Election Day, yet another candidate has added his name to the list of those vying for Democrat Joe Manchin’s seat in the U.S. Senate.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey formally announced his bid at a hotel in Harper’s Ferry Monday. The Republican was just elected to his second four-year term in the office last year.
That race brought in millions of dollars from out-of-state interests, including nearly $7 million from a political action committee under a national Republican Attorneys General group, which Morrisey chairs.
In his announcement speech, Morrisey promised to continue much of the same work he started at the statehouse in Washington.
“We need new leadership in West Virginia,” he said, “real leadership to help the president with an agenda infused with conservative values.”
Those values, Morrisey said, include supporting the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, promoting gun ownership rights, and reforming the nation’s tax code.
But Morrisey isn’t the only conservative in the race. Republican Congressman Evan Jenkins has also touted himself as the conservative choice since announcing his candidacy in May through a YouTube video.
Credit Zach Gibson / Associated Press
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Associated Press
West Virginia Congressman Evan Jenkins, right, during his 2017 swearing in ceremony in Washington.
Less than an hour after Morrisey’s scheduled announcement Monday, the Jenkins campaign released its first set of digital attack ads, going after Morrisey for his past work as a D.C. lobbyist, and potentially setting up what many in political circles around West Virginia have predicted- an ugly and expensive Republican primary between the two.
Jenkins and Morrisey won’t be the only names on the ballot, though.
They’ll be joined by Republicans Jack Newbrough of Weirton, Scott Ernst of Union, and Bo Copely of Lenore. Copely is the coal miner who confronted Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her comments about the industry at a campaign stop in West Virginia last year.
On the Democratic side of the ticket, current Senator and former governor Joe Manchin will face Edwin Vanover of Bluefield and Chase Henderson of Huntington.
West Virginia's Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has scheduled a political event Monday where he's expected to announce his candidacy for the…
West Virginia’s Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has scheduled a political event Monday where he’s expected to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Joe Manchin.
Morrisey, re-elected to a second term last year, is also chairman of the national organization of Republican attorneys general.
The group’s Mountaineers Are Always Free PAC bought almost $6.8 million in ads promoting Morrisey for a second term and attacking his opponent, outspending either one.
The Republican Attorney Generals Association and Morrisey have been involved in challenges to federal regulations under the Obama administration.
West Virginia’s Republican Congressman Evan Jenkins, re-elected to a second term last year, is also running against Manchin, the former governor elected to the Senate in 2010.
Congressman Evan Jenkins has announced he’ll run against Sen. Joe Manchin in 2018.
The two-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives announced he’ll run against Manchin for his seat in 2018 in a 3 minute video sent out by the Jenkins campaign Monday afternoon.
In the video, Jenkins claims Manchin has broken his promises to fight for West Virginia values in Washington.
A Republican, Jenkins was first elected to Congress to represent the state’s third congressional district in southern West Virginia in 2014 after defeating long-time Democratic member Nick Joe Rahall. Jenkins served three terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates and three terms in the state Senate as a Democrat before switching parties to run for Congress.
Manchin is a former governor, secretary of state, and member of the state Legislature. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 during a special election following the death of Robert C. Byrd.