CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will be in West Virginia next week to campaign for Shelley Moore Capito, Alex Mooney and Evan Jenkins.
The Capito for Senate campaign announced Monday that Romney would attend a fundraiser in Charleston and a jobs rally in Beckley both on Aug. 19.
“West Virginians have a clear choice in this election – allow President Obama to continue killing coal jobs or fight back by electing pro-coal advocates Shelley Moore Capito, Evan Jenkins and Alex Mooney,” Romney said in the release from the Capito campaign. “These candidates support the policies that will put West Virginia on a path toward economic prosperity, job-growth and freedom from Obama’s overreaching policies that threaten West Virginia’s way of life.”
Capito said Romney won all 55 counties in West Virginia in the 2012 election because “he shares our commitment to jobs, freedom and American exceptionalism.”
The announcement said more information on the visit would be released in the coming days.
Congresswoman Capito is taking on West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant for the open U.S. Senate seat. Mooney is the Republican nominee in the race for Capito’s seat against Democrat Nick Casey while Sen. Evan Jenkins is battling longtime Democratic incumbent Nick Rahall for the Third District seat.
Tennant’s campaign criticized the planned visit Monday questioning Romney’s support of coal. The campaign pointed out a statement Romney made in front of a coal-fired power plant when he was governor of Massachusetts.
“I will not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people, and that plant — that plant kills people,” Romney said.
Capito campaign spokeswoman Amy Graham said Romney supported coal in the 2012 election and West Virginians recognized that support.
“He shares our support for coal and for ending Obama’s war on coal. So I think it’s very clear where Governor Romney stands on coal,” Graham said.