West Virginia's 1st congressional district

"WV-1" redirects here. WV-1 may also refer to West Virginia Route 1.

West Virginia's 1st congressional district
Current Representative		David McKinley (R–Wheeling)
Population (2010)	615,991
Median income	$30,303
Ethnicity	96.4% White, 1.8% Black, 0.7% Asian, 0.7% Hispanic, 0.2% Native American, 0.1% other
Cook PVI	R+9

West Virginia's 1st congressional district is located in the northern part of the state. It is the most regularly drawn of the state's three districts.

It includes the industrial Rust Belt area of the state's northern panhandle which includes the district's third largest city, Wheeling, as well as Fairmont, Clarksburg, and the college town of Morgantown, the home of the main campus of West Virginia University. The largest city in the district is Parkersburg; the second largest is Morgantown. It also includes many rural farm and timber producing areas. The district has almost no population change reported in the 2010 Census change relative to the other 2 districts, as growth around Morgantown and Parkersburg offset population loss elsewhere, and the district was carried over unchanged for the next ten year cycle.

Politically, the 1st is not considered safe for either party. The cities are Democratic strongholds, while the rural areas are much more conservative and have a tendency to swing Republican more often. State legislators are roughly equally split between both parties.

The district is currently represented by David McKinley, a Republican who has represented the district since 2011.

West Virginia has tended to give its congressmen long tenures in Washington, and the 1st District is no exception. Only four men have represented the district since 1953: Bob Mollohan (D) (1953–1957), former Governor Arch Moore, Jr. (R) (1957–1969), Bob Mollohan again (1969–1983), Alan Mollohan (1983–2011) and McKinley.

While the district and state as a whole has been very Democratic, West Virginia Democrats tend to be somewhat more socially conservative than their counterparts in the rest of the nation. No Democrat since Bill Clinton (who did so by a plurality in a three way race) has carried the 1st District in presidential elections. George W. Bush carried the district both times in 2000 with 54% of the vote and 2004 with 58% of the vote. John McCain carried the district in 2008 with 56.77% of the vote while Barack Obama received 41.51%.

History

The First District has always included Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, and Wetzel counties. The original 1863 districting included also Tyler, Pleasants, Doddridge, Harrison, Ritchie, Wood, Wirt, Gilmer, Calhoun and Lewis counties. In 1882, the counties of Tyler, Doddridge, Harrison, Gilmer, Lewis and Braxton were added to the core counties. In 1902, the core counties were joined by Marion, Harrison, and Lewis counties. In the 1916 redistricting it included only the five core counties and Marion and Taylor. The district was unchanged in the 1934 and 1954 redistrictings. In 1962, Braxton, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis, Marion and Taylor joined the five core counties. The 1972 redistricting added Tyler, Pleasants, and Woods and deleted Taylor. The 1982 redistricting added Taylor back to the district.

1992 began the district as currently constituted, consisting of Barbour, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Hancock, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Ohio, Pleasants, Preston, Ritchie, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Wetzel and Wood counties. In 2002 Gilmer was added. For the election cycle that begins in 2012 the district was unchanged.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
District created		December 17, 1863
Jacob B. Blair	Unconditional Unionist	December 17, 1863 – March 4, 1865	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Chester D. Hubbard	Unconditional Unionist	March 4, 1865 – March 4, 1867	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 4, 1869
Isaac H. Duval	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1871	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
John J. Davis	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 4, 1875	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Benjamin Wilson	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 4, 1883	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Nathan Goff, Jr.	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1889	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
John O. Pendleton	Democratic	March 4, 1889 – February 26, 1890	Lost contested election
George W. Atkinson	Republican	February 26, 1890 – March 4, 1891	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
John O. Pendleton	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 4, 1895	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Blackburn B. Dovener	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1907	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
William P. Hubbard	Republican	March 4, 1907 – March 4, 1911	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
John W. Davis	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – August 29, 1913	Resigned after being appointed Solicitor General of the United States
Vacant		August 29, 1913 – October 14, 1913
Matthew M. Neely	Democratic	October 14, 1913 – March 4, 1921	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Benjamin L. Rosenbloom	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 4, 1925	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Carl G. Bachmann	Republican	March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1933	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Robert L. Ramsay	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
A. C. Schiffler	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Robert L. Ramsay	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
A. C. Schiffler	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Matthew M. Neely	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Francis J. Love	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Robert L. Ramsay	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Bob Mollohan	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1957	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Arch A. Moore, Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1969	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Bob Mollohan	Democratic	January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1983	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Alan Mollohan	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2011	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
David McKinley	Republican	January 3, 2011 – Present	Incumbent

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present