Alan Mollohan

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Alan Mollohan
Alan Mollohan 111th Congressional portrait.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from West Virginia's 1st district
In office
January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by Bob Mollohan
Succeeded by David McKinley
Personal details
Born (1943-05-14) May 14, 1943 (age 70)
Fairmont, West Virginia
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Barbara Whiting
Children four sons and one daughter
Residence Fairmont, West Virginia
Alma mater College of William and Mary, West Virginia University
Occupation attorney
Religion Baptist - ABC
Military service
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1970-1983
Unit Reserves

Alan Bowlby Mollohan (born May 14, 1943) is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 1st congressional district from 1983 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

The district encompasses the northern part of the state; it is based in Wheeling and includes Parkersburg, Morgantown, Fairmont and Clarksburg. He served on the House Appropriations Committee and was ranking Democrat on the Ethics Committee until being asked to step down in 2006. He was defeated in the Democratic primary election held on May 11, 2010, by Mike Oliverio.[1]

Contents

Early life, education and career [edit]

Born in Fairmont, West Virginia, Mollohan is the son of former U.S. Representative Robert Mollohan. He attended Greenbrier Military School and graduated from the College of William and Mary. Thereafter, Mollohan completed a law degree at West Virginia University.

U.S. House of Representatives [edit]

Committee assignments [edit]

Controversies [edit]

On February 28, 2006, National Legal and Policy Center filed a 500-page ethics complaint against Mollohan, alleging that the congressman misrepresented his assets on financial disclosure forms. Mollohan's real estate holdings and other assets have increased from $562,000 in 2000 to at least $6.3 million in 2004. For the period 1996 through 2004, NLPC alleged that his Financial Disclosure Reports failed to disclose real estate, corporate and financial assets that public records showed were owned by Mollohan and his wife.

On April 7, 2006, The New York Times reported that Mollohan "has fueled five non-profit groups in his West Virginia district with $250 million in earmark funding." [2][3] Mollohan created these nonprofit groups, which include the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, Institute for Scientific Research, Canaan Valley Institute, Vandalia Heritage Foundation, and MountainMade Foundation.[4] Leaders of these groups were sometimes investors with him, possibly leading to his own personal gain.[5]

On April 21, 2006, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced that Mollohan would temporarily step down as the Ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee. Howard Berman of California took Mollohan's place.

On April 25, 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mollohan cooperated with CEO Dale R. McBride of FMW Composite Systems Inc. of Bridgeport, West Virginia for the joint purchase of his 300-acre (1.2 km2) farm along West Virginia's Cheat River. Mollohan had directed a $2.1 million government contract earmarked to FWM Composite Systems to develop lightweight payload pallets for space-shuttle missions. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have started asking questions in Washington and West Virginia about Mollohan’s investments and whether they were properly disclosed, according to the Journal. Mollohan had previously acknowledged he may have made inadvertent mistakes on financial disclosure forms, and in June he filed more than two dozen corrections to his disclosure statements.

In October 2009, NewBridge Bank foreclosed on North Carolina beachfront property owned by Mollohan, Laura Kurtz Kuhns, a former Molohan staffer and CEO of the Vandalia Heritage Foundation, and David Kuhns, who is employed by state Senator Brooks McCabe's company. The group purchased the property for $450,000 in 2004. It was assessed at $540,000 in 2007 and sold at foreclosure for $192,000.[6]

In its 2009 report, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) named Mollohan one of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress, stating that he has "steered hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks to family, friends, former employees and corporations in exchange for contributions to his campaign and political action committees. In addition, Rep. Mollohan misreported his personal assets on his financial disclosure forms. He is currently the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice." Due to the pending investigation, Mollohan stepped down from his position on the House Appropriations Committee.[5] Mollohan was also listed on the organization's 2006, 2007, and 2008 reports.[7]

In a January 2010 statement, Mollohan announced his attorneys had been informed by the U.S. Department of Justice that no charges would be filed against him and its investigation closed. Mollohan attributed the allegations of wrongdoing to politically motivated attacks.[8] Ben Friedman of the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington told CREW that the Justice Department has "closed the investigation into the case."[9] Mollohan may still face action from the House Ethics Committee, which had previously been asked to defer investigating Mollohan by the Department of Justice.[10]

Political campaigns [edit]

When Mollohan's father retired in 1982 after 16 years in Congress spread out over two stints, he endorsed his son as his successor. Alan was elected that November in a very competitive contest. He faced another close race in 1984, but was unopposed for a third term in 1986. He has not faced serious opposition in a general election since, running unopposed in 1992, 1996, 2002 and 2008. In 1998 and 2000, no Republican candidate ran against Mollohan. In both of those years he was opposed by a Libertarian Richard Kerr, but Mollohan won.

He last faced any serious electoral competition when, in 1992, West Virginia lost a House seat due to the 1990 Census. The redistricting placed Mollohan against another representative, 2nd District Congressman Harley O. Staggers, Jr.. No other party put up a candidate, meaning that the Democratic primary was tantamount to election. It was predicted to be a tough primary, however Mollohan succeeded in winning his party's nomination with 60% of the vote.[11]

2010 [edit]

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, 2010#District 1

Mollohan faced a Democratic primary challenge on May 11, 2010, and lost to State senator Mike Oliverio, 56% to 44%.[1] It was Mollohan's first contested primary since he faced Harley Staggers Jr. in 1992 after their Congressional districts were merged.[12]

Since his first election in 1982 he has only faced a total of six Republican challengers, the most recent being former state delegate Chris Wakim in 2006. In that race, Mollohan won 64% of the vote.[13]

Electoral history [edit]

United States House of Representatives elections, 2008[14]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Democratic Alan Mollohan 187,734 99.9%
Write-in Ted Osgood 69 0.0%
Write-in R.J. Smith 61 0.0%
United States House of Representatives elections, 2006[13]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Democratic Alan Mollohan 100,939 64.3%
Republican Chris Wakim 55,963 35.6%
Write-in Bennie Kyle 29 0.0%
Write-in David Moran 69 0.0%
United States House of Representatives elections, 2004[15]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Democratic Alan Mollohan 166,583 67.8%
Republican Alan Parks 79,196 32.2%
United States House of Representatives elections, 2002[16]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Democratic Alan Mollohan 110,941 99.7%
Write-in Louis Davis 320 0.3%
United States House of Representatives elections, 2000[17]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Democratic Alan Mollohan 170,974 87.8%
Libertarian Richard Kerr 23,797 12.2%

Personal life [edit]

Mollohan is ranked as the 24th richest congressman out of 435. Mollohan reports his assets at $7.1 million to $29.3 million.[18]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Washington Post (2010). Alan Mollohan loses primary fight. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  2. ^ Rudoren, Jodi (2006-04-08). "Congressman's Special Projects Bring Complaints - New York Times". West Virginia: Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  3. ^ "W. Va. congressman earmarks well". UPI. April 7, 2006. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  4. ^ "Local Projects, Federal Funds". New York Times (April 7, 2006). April 7, 2006. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  5. ^ a b Leonnig, Carol D. (November 24, 2009). "Mollohan, under Justice Department probe, chairs appropriations subcommittee". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  6. ^ Beard, David (November 5, 2009). "Mollohan property auction stands: No other bids placed on N.C. beach land". The Dominion Post (Morgantown, West Virginia). Archived from the original on April 4, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) | CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress". Crewsmostcorrupt.org. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-12. [dead link]
  8. ^ "Mollohan says he's been cleared by Justice Department - Politics - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports". Wvgazette.com. 2010-01-26. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  9. ^ "Justice probe clears Mollohan | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington". Citizensforethics.org. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
  10. ^ Yachnin, Jennifer (January 27, 2010). "DOJ Ends Mollohan Probe; Is Ethics Next?". Roll Call. Archived from the original on unknown date. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  11. ^ Barone. Almanac of American Politics. 2006 edition. Pages 1793–1795.
  12. ^ Surber, Don (February 19, 2010). "Cook Report: Mollohan and Rahall are in trouble". Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia). Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  13. ^ a b "2006 General Election Results". West Virginia Secretary of State. December 20, 2006. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  14. ^ "2008 General Election Results". West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  15. ^ "2004 General Election Results". West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  16. ^ "2002 General Election Results". West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  17. ^ "2000 General Election Results". West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2010. 
  18. ^ King, Joselyn (2009-12-13). "Mollohan, Rockefeller Rank High in Riches - News, Sports, Jobs - The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register. Retrieved 2010-08-30. 

External links [edit]

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Robert Mollohan		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from West Virginia's 1st congressional district
1983–2011		 Succeeded by
David McKinley
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