Wyoming County Senator Daniel Hall announced Tuesday he’ll resign from the position effective Jan. 3, 2016. Hall will leave the seat he’s held since 2012 to take a job as a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association covering many states, including West Virginia.
Hall notably switched parties, from a Democrat to a Republican, the day after the 2014 mid-term election. The Senate had previously been a tied 17-17 and his switch gave Republicans control of the chamber for the first time in more than 80 years.
During the 2015 session, Hall served as the Senate Majority Whip and the chair of the Senate’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and Labor Committee.
He previously served two terms in the House of Delegates.
“The last nearly eight years I’ve spent serving the citizens of southern West Virginia have been eight of the best years of my life,” Hall said in a written statement Tuesday.
“It’s with mixed emotions that I leave to take this job, but I am excited about helping the NRA continue to advance Second Amendment rights for not just West Virginians, but for all Americans.”
Hall said Tuesday he would ask the West Virginia Ethics Commission for a written opinion on his lobbying West Virginia lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session.
After his resignation on Jan. 3, the Wymoning County Republican Executive Committee will have 15 days to nominate possible replacements for the seat. Governor Tomblin will then choose from those nominees.