Congressional committees elevate campaigns
| PARKERSBURG – The Democrat and Republican national congressional committees have elevated the 1st District race for the House of Representatives to their upper tiers.
Republican David McKinley of Wheeling has been named a young gun by the National Republican Congressional Committee while Democrat Michael Oliverio has been placed on the red to blue list by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as one of 26 priority races in the nation. Young guns is the top of three classifications by the Republicans, and the McKinley campaign is among 39 identified by the Republican Congressional Committee. The committee has identified 39 candidates as young guns representing the number of seats needed for the Republican Party to regain control of the House, said Andy Sere, a spokesman for the committee. “It’s a pretty elite group,” he said. A candidate through his or her campaign organization, fundraising, support and strategies, among other goals, reaches young gun status after being on the lower tiers, first “on the radar” then “contender,” he said. As a young gun, “we believe their campaigns are now in a position to win in November,” Sere said. While the committee has yet to make a financial commitment to the McKinley campaign, support is forthcoming, he said. “I expect we will be vigorously supporting David in every way, including financially,” Sere said. Oliverio, an insurance agent and state senator from Morgantown, defeated incumbent Rep. Alan Mollohan in the May primary election. Mollohan has won every election since 1982, including against Rep. Harley Staggers Jr. when two districts were combined in a redistricting of congressional boundaries. Oliverio will be in Parkersburg on Friday. McKinley will be in town on Saturday for the opening of the Republican Party’s regional headquarters in Vienna. Curtis Wilkerson, Oliverio’s campaign manager, said the Democratic committee’s support includes campaign logistics and advice. The Democratic congressional committee will be helpful in arranging speakers on Oliverio’s behalf, too, Wilkerson said. “They’ve asked us who we want, but we haven’t given them any names yet,” he said. |