McKinley Files to Run

McKinley said he has filed the necessary pre-candidacy papers with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office and will run as a Republican in West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District.

“There are some questions as to whether or not we are in the race,” McKinley said. “I can’t officially file as a candidate until next week. But we are serious, and we are building our organization.

“We fully expect to make a more formal announcement in 10 days.”

McKinley, head of the McKinley and Associates architectural firm in Wheeling, traveled to Washington earlier this month to discuss a potential Congressional run with members of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

He previously served in the West Virginia House of Delegates for 14 years, and is a past chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party. In 1996, he waged a campaign for governor, losing in the Republican primary.

McKinley noted that he and Mollohan, D-W.Va., “have been friends for years” and might even be distantly related.

Still, he believes that as the electorate grows more disenchanted with federal spending, the time is ripe for someone with a watchful eye and a powerful message to challenge Mollohan, a 14-term Democrat from Marion County.

“Our mission is simple – to replace Congressman Mollohan … with a fiscally conservative voice that votes the interests of the 1st District,” McKinley said.

“Personally, I don’t think the incumbent has been doing that and I find that troublesome. We’ve got to find a way to get a voice in Congress that says stop the spending. We can’t afford what the Democratic majority has been giving us.”

McKinley acknowledges his own Republican Party is just as responsible for the current U.S. economic posture as are Democrats.

“This just has to stop,” McKinley said. “We can’t afford all this government.”

The current national debt is at about $12 trillion, he pointed out.

“That’s so astronomical I don’t think people can grasp it,” McKinley said. “That’s unsustainable. You can’t buy your way out of a recession.”

Other issues also inspired McKinley to run.

“There’s a war on coal coming from this administration, and Congress seems to be going with it,” he said. “Coal is West Virginia. It’s the backbone of our budgets.

“To have this war on coal is destructive to our ability to maintain economic viability in the state.”

McKinley also took issue with Mollohan’s recent “no” vote on legislation that would have stopped all federal funding to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. He doesn’t believe Mollohan’s vote reflects the sentiments of his constituents.

“The last straw was when … our congressman voted in favor of ACORN,” McKinley said. “Is he not aware of what is happening throughout the country with regards to ACORN?

“I do not believe he is voting with the interests of the 1st Congressional District.”

McKinley joins five other Republicans who also have filed for pre-candidacy in the 1st District – Cindy Hall of Wheeling; Randy “Scott” Smith of Terra Alta; Thomas Stark of Parkersburg; Daniel Scott Swisher of Washington, W.Va.; and Mac Warner of Morgantown.

R.J. Smith of Triadelphia has filed to challenge Mollohan on the Democratic side.
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