White House rdp elex
Associated Press
In an early victory for a Donald Trump-endorsed candidate at the start of midterm season, Rep. Alex Mooney on Tuesday beat fellow incumbent Rep. David McKinley in West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District Republican primary.
“Donald Trump loves West Virginia, and West Virginia loves Donald Trump,” Mooney said in his victory speech.
McKinley was sharply criticized by the former president when he broke with his party as one of 13 Republicans to vote with the Democrats to support President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Trump called McKinley a RINO, or “Republican in Name Only” and endorsed Mooney the day Biden signed the law.
McKinley, who has represented the state in the House since 2011, said in a statement Tuesday night that serving the people of West Virginia had been the honor of his life – and made a subtle reference to the infrastructure vote.
“I’m proud that I have always stood up for what’s right for West Virginia – even when it hurt me politically,” he said. “The groundwork we have laid over the last twelve years has paved the way for a more prosperous and diverse West Virginia economy.”
The race was one of the most-watched of the day. In Nebraska, another Trump-backed candidate, Charles Herbster, was in a crowded field of GOP contenders for governor, but Jim Pillen, a hog farm owner and veterinarian, won the race Tuesday.
Pillen defeated eight challengers, including Herbster, a businessman accused late in the campaign of groping young women, and Brett Lindstrom, a state senator and Omaha financial adviser who was generally viewed as a moderate choice.
Pillen will be a strong favorite in November’s general election against his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Carol Blood. Nebraska hasn’t elected a Democrat as governor since 1994.
The results were a slight setback for Trump after a decisive win in last week’s Ohio Republican Senate primary for his candidate, JD Vance, author of the bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” who defeated six other candidates to win the Ohio Republican primary for U.S. Senate last week. The former president has released hundreds of endorsements in races across the country. Herbster’s loss raises the stakes on other high-profile races this month in Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Earlier Tuesday night, Trump-endorsed incumbent U.S. Rep. Carol Miller breezed to the Republican nomination in West Virginia’s 1st District, defeating four little-known candidates and setting herself on a clear path to re-election.