2014 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia

The 2014 United States House of Representatives election in West Virginia was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the three U.S. representatives from West Virginia, one from each of the state's three congressional districts.

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia

← 2012 November 4, 2014 (2014-11-04) 2016 →
All 3 West Virginia seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 2 1 Seats won 3 0 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 242,823 182,484 Percentage 55.26% 41.53% Swing 4.65% 1.44%
District results County results Republican   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Democratic   40–50%   50–60%

Republicans won control of every congressional district in West Virginia for the first time since the 61st Congress ended in 1911.

Overview

United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, 2014[1]
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
	Republican	242,823	55.26%	3	+1
	Democratic	182,484	41.53%	0	-1
	Libertarian	7,682	1.75%	0	–
	Independents	6,399	1.46%	0	–
Totals		439,388	100.00%	3	—

By district

Results of the 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia by district:^[2]

District	Republican		Democratic		Others		Total		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 1	92,491	63.90%	52,109	36.00%	137	0.10%	144,737	100%	Republican hold
District 2	72,619	47.08%	67,687	43.88%	13,944	9.04%	154,250	100%	Republican hold
District 3	77,713	55.35%	62,688	44.65%	0	0.00%	140,401	100%	Republican gain
Total	242,823	55.26%	182,484	41.53%	14,081	3.21%	439,388	100%

District 1

See also: West Virginia's 1st congressional district

Incumbent Republican David McKinley, who had represented the district since 2011, ran for re-election.

Republican primary

While McKinley had expressed some interest in running for Senate, he later declared he would not run.^[3] He filed for re-election to his House seat on January 15, 2014.^[4]

Candidates

Nominee

• David McKinley, incumbent U.S. Representative

Results

Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David McKinley (incumbent)	27,589	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Glen Gainer III, State Auditor^[6]

Results

Democratic primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Glen Gainer III	34,764	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	David McKinley (R)	Glen Gainer (D)	Undecided
YouGov[7]	October 16–23, 2014	276	± 10%	53%	25%	22%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[8]	Safe R	November 3, 2014
Rothenberg[9]	Safe R	October 24, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[10]	Safe R	October 30, 2014
RCP	Safe R	November 2, 2014
Daily Kos Elections[11]	Safe R	November 4, 2014

Results

West Virginia's 1st congressional district, 2014^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David McKinley (incumbent)	92,491	64.0
	Democratic	Glen Gainer III	52,109	36.0
Total votes			144,600	100.0
	Republican hold

District 2

2014 West Virginia's 2nd congressional district election

← 2012 2016 →

Nominee Alex Mooney Nick Casey Davy Jones Party Republican Democratic Libertarian Popular vote 72,619 67,687 7,682 Percentage 47.1% 43.9% 5.0%

Results by county Mooney:      40-50%      50-60% Casey:      40-50%      50-60%

U.S. Representative before election Shelley Moore Capito Republican Elected U.S. Representative Alex Mooney Republican

See also: West Virginia's 2nd congressional district

Incumbent Republican Shelley Moore Capito, who had represented the district since 2001, won her seventh term in Congress with almost 70 percent of the vote in 2012. She announced that she would not run for re-election, so that she could run for the United States Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Jay Rockefeller.^[13]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Alex Mooney, former chairman of the Maryland Republican Party and former Maryland State Senator^[14]

Eliminated in primary

• Robert Fluharty, veteran, investigator and Eastern Panhandle resident^[15]
• Steve Harrison, state senator^[16]
• Charlotte Lane, former state delegate, former United States International Trade Commissioner and nominee for West Virginia Attorney General in 1996^[17]
• Jim Moss, Putnam County resident^[18]
• Ken Reed, pharmacy owner from Berkeley Springs^[19]
• Ron Walters Jr., son of State Delegate Ron Walters^[20]

Declined

• Tim Armstead, Minority Leader of the West Virginia House of Delegates^[16]
• Shelley Moore Capito, incumbent U.S. Representative (running for the U.S. Senate)^[13]
• Larry Faircloth, former state delegate (running for the state senate)^[21]
• Betty Ireland, former Secretary of State of West Virginia^[16]
• Patrick Lane, state delegate^[16]
• Bill Maloney, businessman and nominee for governor in 2011 and 2012^[22]
• Patrick Morrisey, Attorney General of West Virginia^[23]
• Eric Nelson, state delegate^[24]
• Suzette Raines, state delegate (running for the state senate)^[25]
• Charles Trump, attorney^[26]

Results

Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Alex Mooney	12,678	36.0
	Republican	Ken Reed	7,848	22.3
	Republican	Charlotte Lane	6,358	18.1
	Republican	Steve Harrison	3,885	11.0
	Republican	Ron Walters, Jr.	2,125	6.0
	Republican	Jim Moss	1,684	4.8
	Republican	Robert Fluharty	621	1.8
Total votes			35,199	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Nick Casey, former chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party^[27]

Eliminated in primary

• Meshea Poore, state delegate^[28]

Declined

• Matt Dunn, attorney^[29]
• Steven Gower, Weston resident^[15]
• Doug Skaff, state delegate^[16]
• Herb Snyder, state senator^[30]
• Rod Snyder, president of the Young Democrats of America^[31]
• Erik Wells, state senator^[16]

Results

Democratic primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nick Casey	21,646	60.6
	Democratic	Meshea Poore	14,061	39.4
Total votes			35,707	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Alex Mooney (R)	Nick Casey (D)	Other	Undecided
YouGov[7]	October 16–23, 2014	348	± 7%	45%	44%	–	11%
Public Opinion Strategies*[32]	August 10–12, 2014	400	± 4.9%	40%	28%	13%[33]	19%
Tarrance Group (R-Mooney)[34]	May 20–22, 2014	400	± 4.9%	43%	31%	15%[35]	11%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[8]	Tossup	November 3, 2014
Rothenberg[9]	Tilt R	October 24, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[10]	Lean R	October 30, 2014
RCP	Tossup	November 2, 2014
Daily Kos Elections[11]	Lean R	November 4, 2014

Results

West Virginia's 2nd congressional district, 2014^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Alex X. Mooney	72,619	47.1
	Democratic	Nick Casey	67,687	43.9
	Libertarian	Davy Jones	7,682	5.0
	Independent	Ed Rabel	6,250	4.0
Total votes			154,238	100.0
	Republican hold

District 3

2014 West Virginia's 3rd congressional district election

← 2012 2016 →

Nominee Evan Jenkins Nick Rahall Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 77,713 62,688 Percentage 55.3% 44.7%

County results Jenkins:      50–60%      60–70% Rahall:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Nick Rahall Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Evan Jenkins Republican

Incumbent Democrat Nick Rahall, who had represented the district since 1977, ran for re-election after having considered running for the Senate.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Nick Rahall, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

• Richard Ojeda, veteran^[36]

Results

Democratic primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nick Rahall (incumbent)	37,176	66.4
	Democratic	Richard Ojeda	18,767	33.6
Total votes			55,943	100.0

Republican primary

For the Republicans, State Senator Evan Jenkins, who switched parties in July 2013, ran for the seat against Rahall.^[37] On switching parties, Jenkins stated that: "West Virginia is under attack from Barack Obama and a Democratic Party that our parents and grandparents would not recognize."^[37] In 2012, West Virginia's 3rd district went for Mitt Romney 66% to 32%.^[38]

State Senator Bill Cole, who had considered a run for the seat himself, was Jenkins' campaign chairman.^[39]

Candidates

Nominee

• Evan Jenkins, state senator^[37]

Declined

• Bill Cole, state senator
• Rick Snuffer, state delegate and nominee for this seat in 2004 & 2012^[40]

Results

Jenkins ran unopposed in the Republican primary.^[41]

Republican primary results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Evan Jenkins	14,374	100.0

General election

Campaign

Rahall was considered one of the most "endangered" House Democrats by the House Democratic campaign committee.^[42][43]

Jenkins supported the repeal of Obamacare and pledged to replace it.^[44]

As of September 18, 2014, the race was rated a "toss up" by both University of Virginia political professor Larry Sabato, of Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Stu Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report.^[45] As of October 2, managing editor Kyle Kondik of Sabato's Crystal Ball said the race was still a toss-up, calling it "Super close, super expensive and super nasty."^[46][47]

A Fox News op-ed opined in October that Jenkins "offers Republicans the most credible nominee the party has had since the mid-'90s. In a race that will see as much advertising by third-party organizations as any House race in the country, the winner will be the candidate who voters believe will do the most to take on President Obama's War on Coal and the EPA."^[48]

Through October 6, 2014, 16,340 ads had appeared on broadcast television, the second-highest number of ads of any district in the U.S.^[49] By mid-October 2014, it was anticipated that $12.8 million could be spent on ads in the race by Election Day.^[50] Rahall outspent Jenkins in the election by a two-to-one ratio.^[51]

Time listed a Rahall ad in its article: "Here Are 5 of The Most Dishonest Political Ads of 2014," and The Washington Post ran an article regarding the same Rahall ad entitled: "A sleazy attack puts words in the other candidate's mouth".^[52][53]

Endorsements

Rahall was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund.^[54][55]

The National Right to Life Committee, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and West Virginians for Life, all of which had previously supported Rahall, supported Jenkins in 2014, and the West Virginia Coal Association endorsed Jenkins in September 2014.^[56][57]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Nick Rahall (D)	Evan Jenkins (R)	Undecided
YouGov[7]	October 16–23, 2014	253	± 10%	45%	50%	5%
Harper Polling[58]	October 7–8, 2014	657	± 3.82%	44%	50%	6%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research[59]	May 26–28, 2014	403	± 5%	52%	39%	9%
Anzalone Liszt Grove Research (D-Rahall)[60]	May 12–14, 2014	502	± 4.4%	52%	39%	9%
DFM Research[61]	April 22–27, 2014	400	± 4.9%	48%	39%	13%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research[62]	April 15–16, 2014	400	± 5%	52%	40%	8%
Tarrance Group (R-Jenkins)[63]	March 3–5, 2014	405	± 4.9%	40%	54%	6%
Harper Polling (R-Jenkins)[64]	October 7–8, 2013	649	± 3.84%	46%	42%	12%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[8]	Tossup	November 3, 2014
Rothenberg[9]	Tossup	October 24, 2014
Sabato's Crystal Ball[10]	Lean R (flip)	October 30, 2014
RCP	Tossup	November 2, 2014
Daily Kos Elections[11]	Tilt R (flip)	November 4, 2014

Results

Jenkins won the election, defeating incumbent Rahall in November 2014 with 55.3% of the vote to Rahall's 44.7%.^[65][66]

West Virginia's 3rd congressional district, 2014^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Evan Jenkins	77,713	55.3
	Democratic	Nick Rahall (incumbent)	62,688	44.7
Total votes			140,401	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• 2014 United States House of Representatives elections
• 2014 United States elections