Born in Morgantown into the West Virginia Moore-Capito political family, Moore began his career as a welder before moving into politics. In 2013, he served as an associate at the Podesta Group where he was part of a client team working on the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECFMU), which was formed to represent the Party of Regions, a banned pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has endorsed State Treasurer Riley Moore for the 2nd Congressional District seat in the Republican primary next year.
McCarthy’s endorsement of Riley Moore, for West Virginia’s Second Congressional District, could help Moore in his primary election bid, where there are currently no declared Democrats in the race.
The heavily Republican district opened up after incumbent Rep. Alex Mooney announced his candidacy for West Virginia’s Senate seat currently held by Democrat Joe Manchin. Manchin hasn’t yet said if he’ll seek re-election. Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Jim Justice has entered the race.
Born in Morgantown into the West Virginia Moore-Capito political family, Moore began his career as a welder before moving into politics. In 2013, he served as an associate at the Podesta Group where he was part of a client team working on the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECFMU), which was formed to represent the Party of Regions, a banned pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997.
Moore later stated that he was unaware of any illegal activity after the Podesta Group was named in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation over alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. He was never identified as a person associated with the case.
Moore’s cousin, Del. Moore Capito, the son of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has announced plans to run for governor of West Virginia next year. His grandfather, Arch Moore, served as governor in the 1970s and ’80s.
Before being elected to the role of state treasurer, Riley Moore served in the West Virginia House of Delegates for the 67th district. He beat six-term incumbent Democrat John Perdue for his current role as state treasurer in 2020.
An outspoken opponent of environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, Moore pulled West Virginia from the BlackRock Incorporated’s investment fund because of its stance on fossil fuels.
He also threatened to bar JP Morgan Chase and other big banks from doing business in West Virginia over what alleged fossil fuel boycotts.
The endorsement of Moore marks one of McCarthy’s first campaign moves since a showdown on Capitol Hill over the nation’s borrowing limit. Republicans have a narrow majority in the 435-member chamber.
The nine-day teachers’ strike in West Virginia made headlines across the country, and some are wondering what the events mean for state’s political landscape. How did a widespread labor strike, a practice normally associated with Democrats, happen in a state that voted so heavily for Donald Trump?
We wanted to take a step back to explore how politics have been changing here over the past generation. West Virginia has been dubbed the heart of Trump Country, but politics here are anything but straightforward.
The strike wasn’t organized solely by Democrats or Republicans, or even union bosses. But some, like Angela Nottingham, a seventh grade social studies teacher from Cabell County, said the action changed how they plan to vote this year. Nottingham said she switched from Independent to Democrat after watching some Senate Republicans fight against the pay increase teachers were demanding.
“I know there are a lot of people out there that are Republican and kind of vote with their party. I think a lot of people are gonna look back at who supported them. And I really do think they, and the people around them, and the people they influence, will vote for the people who helped us out,” Nottingham said.
In 2016, President Trump received nearly 70 percent of votes cast in West Virginia.
Credit Kara Lofton/ WVPB
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woman attending protests at state capitol on March 6 to rally for teacher raises in W.Va.
West Virginia has a Republican governor, and Republicans control both houses of the state Legislature.
And yet, more voters in the state are registered as Democrats than Republicans. In Wyoming County, for example, President Trump won 83 percent of votes, even though more than twice as many voters in this county are registered as Democrats, compared with Republicans.
Could Democrats gain back some ground in the Mountain State?
With the midterm election around the corner, we wanted to get a sense of where we’re headed, so West Virginia Public Broadcasting polled more than 900 teachers and school personnel in an anonymous, online survey. This was not a scientific poll designed by statisticians, but it did give us some interesting insights.
About half of the teachers we surveyed said they identify as Democrats, while nearly 30 percent said they are Republicans. A majority said they voted for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as their first choice for president in 2016.
A majority (36 percent) said they plan to re-elect U.S. Senator Joe Manchin. An overwhelming majority (97 percent) of those who live in the state’s Third Congressional District in southern West Virginia — the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins, a Republican — said they plan to vote for Richard Ojeda.
Both Ojeda, who’s currently serving in the state Senate, and Manchin are Democrats. That is, West Virginia’s version of a Democrat.
A Different Kind of Democrat
Democrats in West Virginia held the majority in the state Legislature for more than 80 years. More than half of our governors have been Democrats. But, as political science professor Rob Rupp explained, the Democrats in the Mountain State have traditionally been a populist party, pro-labor and socially conservative.
Rupp, a professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, posited that three are three political parties in America: Republican, Democrat and West Virginia Democrat.
“And by that I mean you have kind of a hybrid party, a big tent where conservatives, moderates and liberals all joined,” unique to West Virginia.
Rupp has spent most of his career studying what he called “West Virginia’s slow motion realignment towards the red” in this state, and he said that shift has been happening for a long time. But, he argued, it rose to the surface about 15 years ago. President Bill Clinton was fairly popular here, but Democrats on the national stage since have failed to resonate with voters in this pro-coal state.
“And now [Democrats] are realizing that to many West Virginia voters, the national Democratic Party is out of touch with the state voters,” Rupp said.
This shift didn’t happen overnight. Rupp and other political scientists said one reason for the change is the declining power of unions. Labor has had a strong influence on politics here since the 1930s, and labor unions have typically sided with Democrats.
But in West Virginia, Democrats are far more conservative than the national party: They’re pro-coal, and they usually side with conservatives on social issues, like gay rights, abortion and immigration.
Rupp said now we’re seeing the breakup of that hybrid, West Virginia-style Democrat, a change that could have national implications. West Virginia may be a bellwether for rural America, and for the national Democratic party.
“And now with the loss of power was seeing a struggle between, should the Democratic Party turn left or should it turn right, now that it suddenly finds himself in minority.”
But with the recent teachers’ strike, some people are wondering if the Democrats, could stand a chance of regaining power in West Virginia. And what kind of Democrats could get elected? Ones that lean progressive? Or will they need to look more like the West Virginia Democrats of the past?
One example of the traditional-style West Virginia Democrat is state Senator Richard Ojeda. He’s running for Congress in southern West Virginia and he says he voted for Trump, but he’s been disappointed by the President’s performance. He strongly supports labor unions, and was one of the teachers’ loudest supporters during the recent strike.
But if Democrats like Ojeda want to take back power in West Virginia and across Appalachia, they’ll have to figure out one big question: how to bring back jobs to coal country.
Former coal miner Nick Mullins, who blogs at The Thoughtful Coal Miner, said liberals haven’t done enough during the past decade to appeal to working class voters in Appalachia.
“To be frank and honest [Democrats] need to come off of their moral high horses and come back down to the level of the working class,” said Mullins, a registered Independent from southwest Virginia, who said he didn’t vote in the November 2016 election.
“The working class needs help. We’re facing longer hours or stagnant wages. People aren’t enjoying life right now because they’re having to work so hard and long to just have a little bit of happiness in their lives.”
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner says his office will assess any request it receives for information on the state’s voter rolls but is limited by law in what it can provide. Warner, a Republican, said in a statement that his office had not received a request as of Friday afternoon from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Warner said West Virginians’ privacy was of “paramount importance” and that his office would abide by state law.
If you have a short attention span, this week’s Front Porch podcast is for you!
We tackle racism, Trump, taxes, rumors and Stevie Nicks, in less time than it takes to watch “Big Bang Theory.”
Welcome to “The Front Porch,” where we tackle the tough issues facing Appalachia the same way you talk with your friends on the porch.
Hosts include WVPB Executive Director and recovering reporter Scott Finn; conservative lawyer, columnist and rabid “Sherlock” fan Laurie Lin; and liberal columnist and avid goat herder Rick Wilson, who works for the American Friends Service Committee.
An edited version of “The Front Porch” airs Fridays at 4:50 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio network, and the full version is available at wvpublic.org and as a podcast as well.
Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @radiofinn or @wvpublicnews, or e-mail S cott at sfinn @ wvpublic.org
The Front Porch is underwritten by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Gazette-Mail. Find the latest news, traffic and weather on its CGM App. Download it in your app store, and check out its website: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/
Who are you and what matters to you? What are your hopes for the future under a new US presidency? These are the questions being asked in a new 4-part radio series by the BBC and APM called “The Response: America’s Story”. The series will cover President-elect Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s producing its first episode right here in West Virginia, and West Virginia Public Broadcasting is helping with the launch.
The Response is a very unique sort of radio program. Instead of having political analysts or talking heads tell us their interpretations of the latest election, producers are asking you to share how the latest election might affect you and your family. Producers have been collecting stories from people all over the United States by asking them to send in recorded voice memos using a smart phone.
“Now we do understand that not everyone owns a smart phone,” says BBC producer Kevin Core. You could also borrow one from a friend or a family member. “And just tell a story about your life. What makes you, you? And then, what you want from the President-Elect Donald Trump,” says Core, who will be in West Virginia this week to collect stories and help write the broadcast, which airs Monday January 16th, a few days before the Presidential Inauguration.
So, would you be interested in telling your story to the BBC or sharing your thoughts about President-elect Donald Trump? Grab your smart phone and record a two minute message. Then email your recorded message to theresponse@bbc.co.uk. We can’t wait to hear from you!
West Virginia Public Broadcasting is also hosting an event in Charleston Thursday afternoon, where you can meet the BBC producers and learn more about the radio series.
If you have any questions, you can also email the BBC producers, who can walk you through the process of recording your story. Or you can call Roxy Todd at 304-556-4936.
How could a billionaire born into wealth become the champion of the white working class?
That question stumped a lot of liberal commentators, but Joan Williams wasn’t surprised.
Williams studies the white working class and is founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law at UC Hastings College of the Law.
On the Front Porch podcast, she makes a case for reaching across the class-culture gap to understand one another.
Here are nine things she said many liberals (and some non-liberal elites) don’t understand about the white working class.
1. White working class folks tend to admire the very rich, but really resent professionals
“These (professionals) are the people who are ordering them around every day, often disrespectfully,” she said, such as the college kid who gets promoted ahead of you, or the doctor or teacher who condescends to you.
And the rich? “That’s what the white working class would like to be,” she said.
“They don’t want to make all the cultural changes required for them to become professional families. They just want to be exactly the way they are, living their lives the ways they’ve always lived them with the values they’ve always had…but with more money.”
Clinton represented the condescension of professionals, she says. Trump represented their dream.
2. They are afraid of change…with good reason
“I associate change with loss,” one working class man told Williams. She says change has meant loss for this whole class of people over the last 30, 40 years.
3. College is not the answer for many working class kids
Our society seems to offer two options – a four-year college degree or dead-end, minimum wage service jobs.
But four-year degrees are increasingly hard and expensive to get for working class families. Many don’t try, and others try, but drop out – incurring debt along the way.
Williams says our government needs to offer more options between four-year-degrees and minimum wage – such as certificate programs at community colleges.
4. “We on the left have made racism and misogyny truly delicious” to the white working class
“Liberals have defined their coalition as women, people of color, LGBT, the disabled, the poor,” she said. “The white working class are just stupid racists with bad taste. Shame on us for creating a coalition that leaves out a key disenfranchised group.
“Racism and misogyny becomes a way to poke the elite in the eye.”
5. Straight talk is valued by the white working class, more than expressing feelings
“Talking through your feelings is part of being a good person” to the elite. To many working class people, “that’s kind of weird and self-obsessed and off-putting.”
6. Different classes see food in radically different ways
For the elite, it’s how you can signal sophistication to the world, i.e. the dinner party.
Working class families use food to signal comfort – large portions of everyday foods – and tradition, such as sharing family recipes.
7. There’s a big chasm within the working class between settled and unsettled families
In “Hillbilly Elegy,” J.D. Vance lived with his mother, who lived a chaotic life full of substance abuse and a parade of different men.
Vance’s father, however, found a settled life, defined by strict rules and religion.
8. Working class does not mean poor – or even necessarily low-income
Working class people can and do often make good money. That’s why Democratic promises of raising the minimum wage don’t get them very excited, Williams said.
When liberals talk about working class, they’re typically thinking of the bottom 30 percent of families (in income.) She’s talking about the middle 50 percent.
She says the “professional elite” also calls itself middle class, when it really is not.
9. Dignity is a huge issue to the white working class
They want work, not charity. And language of “lifting people up” or helping them will be rejected.
“That language will be rejected as condescending because it IS condescending,” she said.
“The Front Porch” is a place where we tackle the tough issues facing West Virginia and Appalachia with some of the region’s most interesting thinkers.
WVPB Executive Director Scott Finn serves as host and provocateur, joined by Laurie Lin, a conservative lawyer and columnist, and Rick Wilson, a liberal columnist and avid goat herder who works for the American Friends Service Committee.
Subscribe to “The Front Porch” podcast on iTunes or however you listen to podcasts.
An edited version of “The Front Porch” airs Fridays at 4:50 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio network, and the full version is available above.
Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @radiofinn or @wvpublicnews, or e-mail Scott at sfinn @ wvpublic.org
The Front Porch is underwritten by The Charleston Gazette Mail, providing both sides of the story on its two editorial pages. Check it out: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/
