CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sources tell MetroNews longtime West Virginia Auditor Glen Gainer will officially announce his campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in West Virginia’s First District on Friday.
Gainer, a Wood County resident who is in his 21st year as auditor, has been weighing a Congressional run for months now.
“I’ve probably overanalyzed it, to be quite honest,” he told MetroNews last month. “But we wanted to make sure we made the right decision.”
Gainer was expected to meet with his core supporters in Parkersburg on Thursday night before making a public announcement on Friday.
If he wins the Democratic nomination in the May Primary Election, he could challenge current Congressman David McKinley (R-WV 1) in the 2014 November General Election. McKinley is seeking his third term next year. He was first elected in 2010.
“We’ll take it,” said Conrad Lucas, state Republican Party chairman, of Gainer’s candidacy.
“If the best they can come up with is an ethically challenged individual who openly endorsed Obamacare and Barack Obama, then we will gladly allow Congressman McKinley to run on his fiscally conservative record and his pro-coal and pro jobs message.”
Gainer is not up for reelection as auditor until 2016.