West Virginia's 1st congressional district

West Virginia's 1st congressional district
West Virginia's 1st congressional district
	West Virginia's 1st congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	David McKinley; R–Wheeling
Population (2010)	615,991
Median household; income	30,303
Ethnicity	96.4% White; 1.8% Black; 0.7% Hispanic; 0.7% Asian; 0.2% Native American; 0.1% other;
Cook PVI	R+19

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.

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 very 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.

Despite the lack of turnover in the congressional seat, historically the 1st was not safe for either party. The cities are ancestrally Democratic strongholds, while the rural areas are much more conservative and have a tendency to swing Republican more often. As late as 2014, state legislators were roughly split between both parties.

Historically, the district has been very Democratic, mirroring the state as a whole. However, West Virginia Democrats tend to be somewhat more socially conservative than their counterparts in the rest of the nation, and the district has been swept up in the growing Republican trend in the state at the national level. 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 been anchored in Wheeling, and as such has always included Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, and Wetzel counties^[2]–the five counties usually reckoned as the Northern Panhandle. The original 1863 districting included also Tyler, Pleasants, Doddridge, Harrison, Ritchie, Wood, Wirt, Gilmer, Calhoun and Lewis counties.^[2] It was essentially the successor of Virginia's 11th congressional district.

In 1882, the counties of Tyler, Doddridge, Harrison, Gilmer, Lewis and Braxton were added to the core counties.^[2] In 1902, the core counties were joined by Marion, Harrison, and Lewis counties.^[2] In the 1916 redistricting it included only the five core counties and Marion and Taylor.^[2] The district was unchanged in the 1934 and 1954 redistrictings.^[2] In 1962, Braxton, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis, Marion and Taylor joined the five core counties.^[2] The 1972 redistricting added Tyler, Pleasants, and Woods and deleted Taylor.^[2] The 1982 redistricting added Taylor back to the district.^[2]

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.^[2] In 2002 Gilmer was added.^[2] For the election cycle that begins in 2012 the district was unchanged.^[2]

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
District created		December 17, 1863
Jacob B. Blair	Unconditional Unionist	December 17, 1863 – March 3, 1865	Retired
Chester D. Hubbard	Unconditional Unionist	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1867	Lost re-election
Chester D. Hubbard	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869	Lost re-election
Isaac H. Duval	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871	Retired
John J. Davis	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875	Retired
Benjamin Wilson	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883	Lost re-election
Nathan Goff Jr.	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1889	Retired
John O. Pendleton	Democratic	March 4, 1889 – February 26, 1890	Lost contested election
George W. Atkinson	Republican	February 26, 1890 – March 3, 1891	Retired
John O. Pendleton	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1895	Lost renomination
Blackburn B. Dovener	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1907	Lost renomination
William P. Hubbard	Republican	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911	Retired
John W. Davis	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – August 29, 1913	Resigned to become U.S. Solicitor General
Vacant		August 29, 1913 – October 14, 1913
Matthew M. Neely	Democratic	October 14, 1913 – March 3, 1921	Lost re-election
Benjamin L. Rosenbloom	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1925	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Carl G. Bachmann	Republican	March 4, 1925 – March 3, 1933	Lost re-election
Robert L. Ramsay	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939	Lost re-election
A. C. Schiffler	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941	Lost re-election
Robert L. Ramsay	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	Lost re-election
A. C. Schiffler	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945	Lost re-election
Matthew M. Neely	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947	Lost re-election
Francis J. Love	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	Lost re-election
Robert L. Ramsay	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953	Lost renomination
Bob Mollohan	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1957	Retired to run for Governor
Arch A. Moore Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1969	Retired to run for Governor
Bob Mollohan	Democratic	January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1983	Retired
Alan Mollohan	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2011	Lost renomination
David McKinley	Republican	January 3, 2011 – Present	Elected in 2010

Historical district boundaries

References

^ "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l West Virginia Blue Book, pp. 534 (2012 edition)

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

39°22′55″N 80°16′07″W / 39.38194°N 80.26861°W / 39.38194; -80.26861

[Cook-1] "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.

[WVBB-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l West Virginia Blue Book, pp. 534 (2012 edition)

[1]

[2]

History

List of representatives

Historical district boundaries

See also

References