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Alex Mooney

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Alex Mooney
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from West Virginia's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded byShelley Moore Capito
Member of the Maryland Senate
from the 3rd district
In office
January 13, 1999 – January 12, 2011
Preceded byJohn W. Derr
Succeeded byRonald N. Young
Personal details
Born (1971-06-07) June 7, 1971 (age 53)
Washington, D.C., United States
Political partyRepublican
SpouseGrace Mooney
Children3
Residence(s)Charles Town, West Virginia
(2013–present)
Frederick, Maryland
(1999–2013)
Alma materDartmouth College
WebsiteCongressional
Campaign

Alex X. Mooney (born June 7, 1971) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. He served in the Maryland State Senate, representing District 3, from 1999 to 2011 and is a former Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party. He is the first Hispanic elected to Congress in West Virginia history.[1]

Early life, education, and early career

Mooney's mother, Lala, was a Cuban refugee who escaped from political imprisonment at the age of 21, shortly after the Bay of Pigs Invasion.[2] From a family of Irish immigrants, his father Vincent grew up in Long Island, New York. Mooney was born in 1971 in Washington D.C. He graduated from Frederick High School. There he was elected as Student Government Association President.[2] In 1993, he received his B.A. in philosophy from Dartmouth College. While attending Dartmouth, he ran for the New Hampshire House of Representatives in Grafton County's 10th District. He finished in last place with 8% of the vote.[3]

After college, Mooney served as staff assistant to U.S. Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett, remaining as his assistant until 1995. That year, he became a legislative analyst for the Republican Conference of the U.S. House of Representatives.[4]

In addition to his political work, Mooney also is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He served as the executive director of the National Journalism Center from 2005–2012. In 2007, Mooney was elected to the Executive Committee of the Dartmouth College Association of Alumni.[5]

Maryland Senate

He formerly represented Maryland's District 3rd, which covers parts of Washington and Frederick Counties.

Elections

Mooney has run for public office in three different states: New Hampshire, Maryland, and West Virginia.[6] His first run for public office was in New Hampshire, where he lost a bid for the New Hampshire State House while attending Dartmouth College. Mooney was a member of the Maryland State Senate from 1999 through 2011. When Mooney ran for the Maryland Senate in 1998, he defeated incumbent Republican John W. Derr in the primary election and Democrat Ronald S. Bird in the general election.[7] In 2002, Mooney won re-election defeating Democrat Sue Hecht, with 55% of the vote.[8] Mooney won re-election in 2006 with 52% of the vote against Candy Greenway.[9] In 2010, Democrat Ronald N. Young, Mayor of Frederick, defeated him 51%–49%.[10][11]

Tenure

Mooney received the Maryland Taxpayer of the Year award in 2000 and the National Hero of the Taxpayer Award for 2003. He has also received the top business rating in the state by the Maryland Business for Responsive Government.

Mooney traveled to New Hampshire to testify in support of a state bill that would require legislative approval for amendments that the private Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College wished to make to its charter.[12]

Committee assignments

In the Maryland State Senate, Mooney was a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, the Joint Committee on Investigation, and formerly a member of the Joint Committee on Federal Relations, and the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. He served on the Maryland Rural Caucus, the Taxpayers Protection Caucus, and the Maryland Veterans Caucus.

Post-Senate career

Chairman of the Maryland GOP

On December 11, 2010, Mooney was elected as Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party. He was Chairman until early 2013.

2012 congressional election

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Maryland, 2012

After redistricting, Bartlett's 6th District was significantly redrawn. Heavily Republican Carroll County, as well as more Republican portions of Baltimore, Frederick and Harford counties, were shifted out of the district, replaced by a heavily Democratic spur of Montgomery County.[13] Obama only took 40 percent of the vote in the old 6th, but would have won 56 percent in the new 6th.[14] After creating an exploratory committee to challenge Bartlett in the Republican primary,[15] Mooney decided not to run against him.[16]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2014
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, 2014 § District 2

In March 2012, Mooney filed as a candidate in the 2014 Republican primary for the 6th District. However, he subsequently had to withdraw his candidacy because he was still Bartlett's part-time outreach director at the time he filed papers to run in 2014. House ethics rules do not allow congressional staffers to remain employed in a congressional office while campaigning.[17][18]

Mooney subsequently moved to Charles Town, West Virginia, a small town on the state's eastern tip, and declared his candidacy for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district. The district includes most of the West Virginia portion of the Washington market. Seven-term Republican incumbent Shelley Moore Capito was giving up the seat to run for the United States Senate.[19] During his campaign, some West Virginia Democrats accused Mooney of being a "carpetbagger" since he had recently moved to West Virginia.[20]

He received the Republican Party nomination on May 13 beating six other opponents in the Republican primary. Mooney won 15 of the 17 counties in the congressional district with an overall total of 36.02 percent of the vote.[21] Mooney faced Democrat Nick Casey in the 2014 general election.[22]

On November 4, 2014, Mooney defeated Casey in the general election, 49 percent to 47 percent. He won Berkeley County, in the state's Eastern Panhandle, by 5,000 votes—more than the overall margin of 4,900 votes. Berkeley, like Charles Town, is part of the Washington market.[23] Mooney was also helped by long coattails from Capito, who carried every county in the district (and the state).[24]

Mooney became the first Latino elected to West Virginia's congressional delegation in the state's history.[1]

2016
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, 2016 § District 2

Mooney is running for re-election in 2016. He will face Marc Savitt in the Republican primary election on May 10, 2016.[25]

Tenure

Mooney was sworn in on January 6, 2015.

Committee assignments

Electoral history

  • 2010 Race for Maryland State Senate – District 3[27]
Name Votes Percent Outcome
Ronald N. Young, Dem. 22,710 51.1% Won
Alex X. Mooney, Rep. 21,666 48.7% Lost
Other Write-Ins 75 0.2% Lost
  • 2006 Race for Maryland State Senate – District 3[9]
Name Votes Percent Outcome
Alex X. Mooney, Rep. 21,844 51.9% Won
Candy O. Greenway, Dem. 20,111 47.8% Lost
Other Write-Ins 104 0.2% Lost
  • 2002 Race for Maryland State Senate – District 3[8]
Name Votes Percent Outcome
Alex X. Mooney, Rep. 21,617 55.0% Won
C. Sue Hecht, Dem. 17,654 44.9% Lost
Other Write-Ins 66 0.2% Lost
  • 1998 Race for Maryland State Senate – District 3[28]
Name Votes Percent Outcome
Alex X. Mooney, Rep. 18,399 56% Won
Ronald S. Bird, Dem. 14,212 44% Lost

References

  1. ^ a b "West Virginia, the nation's least Hispanic state, elects its first Latino congressman". FOX News Latino. New York City, New York. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Welcome to AlexMooney.com
  3. ^ "Ourcampaigns.com". Ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  4. ^ Stephanie Desmon (2002-10-21). "Frederick Senate race has harsh tone; 'Dirty' maneuvering marks contentious contest between Hecht, Mooney". The Baltimore Sun. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Dartmouth Alumni". Trustees of Dartmouth College.
  6. ^ Ford, C. Benjamin (March 19, 2013). "Mooney's West Virginia move surprises Maryland GOP". Gazette.Net. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  7. ^ "Gubernatorial Primary – September 15, 1998". Washington County Board of Elections. 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "2002 Gubernatorial General – Official Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Official 2006 Gubernatorial General Election results for State Senator". Maryland State Board of Elections. 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  10. ^ "2010 General Election Official Results". Maryland Local Board of Elections. 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Ourcampaigns.com". Ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  12. ^ John Gregg (2008-01-22). "College Charter Bill Advances". The Valley News. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ "Republicans Outnumber Dems Running for GOP Rep's Maryland Seat". Fox News. November 11, 2011.
  14. ^ Ford, C. Benjamin (November 18, 2011). "GOP candidates lining up to take on Bartlett". Gazette.Net. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  15. ^ Pershing, Ben (December 1, 2011). "State GOP chair Alex Mooney to challenge Roscoe Bartlett in primary". The Washington Post.
  16. ^ Pershing, Ben (January 10, 2012). "State GOP Chair Alex Mooney won't challenge Bartlett in primary". The Washington Post.
  17. ^ Pershing, Ben (September 20, 2012). "Bartlett aide, state GOP head Alex Mooney drops candidacy to comply with ethics rules". The Washington Post.
  18. ^ Kilar, Steve (September 22, 2012). "Bartlett aide admits he erred by not disavowing his own candidacy". The Baltimore Sun.
  19. ^ Messina, Lawrence (14 July 2013). "2014 field growing in W.Va. federal races". Sunday Gazette-Mail.
  20. ^ Livington, Abby (10 July 2014). "At the Races – Roll Call's Politics Blog West Virginia Newcomer Battles Carpetbagger Label". Roll Call. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Statewide Results: Primary Election – May 13, 2014". West Virginia Secretary of State. 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  22. ^ Walshe, Shushannah (May 13, 2014). "Tea Party's Alex Mooney Wins West Virginia GOP House Primary". ABC News. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  23. ^ Vergaris, Brock (November 4, 2014). "GOP's Mooney wins W.Va. 2nd congressional seat". The Journal. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  24. ^ West Virginia Senate results
  25. ^ "Mooney faces 2nd District GOP challenger; 5 Dems square off". The Tampa Tribune. April 23, 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  26. ^ a b McVey, John (December 21, 2014). "Mooney excited, ready for office". The Journal. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  27. ^ "State Senate Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  28. ^ "State Senate Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from West Virginia's 2nd congressional district
2015–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States Representatives by seniority
413th 		Succeeded by
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