West Virginia's 2nd congressional district
| West Virginia's 2nd congressional district | |
|---|---|
West Virginia's 2nd congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
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| Current Representative | Alex Mooney (R–Charles Town) |
| Distribution |
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| Population (2010) | 648,186 |
| Median income | 33,198 |
| Ethnicity |
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| Cook PVI | R+11 |
West Virginia's 2nd congressional district stretches from the Ohio River border with Ohio to the Potomac River border with Maryland and the border with Virginia. It includes the capital city of Charleston and the rapidly growing residential communities of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions connected by a narrow strip of nearly unpopulated counties. It has been accurately described as 20 miles wide and 300 miles long.
The district is currently represented by Alex Mooney, a Republican.
West Virginia had four Congressional seats from 1973 to 1993. Previously, much of the western portion of the current 2nd District had been in the 3rd District, based in Charleston. The eastern portion of the district had been in the 2nd District, which had been anchored in Martinsburg and Morgantown for all but a few years since statehood. For all but two years from 1949 to 1993, it was held by the Democratic Staggers family--Harley O. Staggers from 1949 to 1981 and Harley "Buckey" Staggers, Jr. from 1983 to 1993. When West Virginia lost a seat following the 1990 Census, the state legislature divided Staggers's district among the remaining three districts. Much of Staggers's old territory was merged with the 3rd District, represented by five-term Democrat Bob Wise and renumbered the 2nd. However, Staggers's home in Mineral County wound up in the 1st District, where he was routed in the Democratic primary by Alan Mollohan. Wise represented the new district until 2000, when he ran for and won West Virginia's governorship. Following the 2010 Census, Mason County was transferred to the 3rd District, which changed the character of the district only slightly. This change took effect for the 2012 election.
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