CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Maryland transplant Alex Mooney claimed a slim victory in the race for West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, giving Republicans a sweep of the state’s three U.S. House seats.
West Virginia last elected an all-Republican contingent to the U.S. House in 1922.
Mooney’s 72,063 votes gave him a 47 to 44 percent edge over Democrat Nick Casey in a district thrown open by seven-term Republican congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito launching a successful run for the U.S. Senate.
Opponents criticized Mooney as a political opportunist because he moved from Maryland to Charles Town only two years ago in pursuit of a House seat his party held since 2000. Mooney said he and his wife “are West Virginians by choice” who recently gave birth to a daughter in Charleston.
“We love the state and we’re as committed to it as anybody,” Mooney said. “The people here are principle-fighters, as am I. We share the same values.”
ELECTION RESULTS: Totals from all West Virginia races
Casey, a Charleston attorney and the former chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, received support from local Republicans who didn’t warm to Mooney’s move. Casey also garnered support from U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin while seeking to distinguish his platform from President Obama, who remains unpopular across the state.
“We had a heck of a headwind blowing against us and that headwind was just a little too tough,” Casey said. “It looks to me like that wind is too hard against us this time.”
Mooney, a staunch critic of the Affordable Care Act, received nearly $1.2 million from out-of-state groups. He signed a “No New Taxes Pledge” from Americans for Tax Reform and has said he backs a balanced budget Constitutional amendment.
The district stretches from the Ohio border and Charleston to Washington, D.C., suburbs of Martinsburg.