Free Republic

How many people alive today can say that their father was a Civil War soldier who shook hands with Abraham Lincoln in the White House? Fred Upham can. Despite sounding like a tall tale and a mathematical impossibility, it's documented truth. Fred's father, William, was a private in the Union Army's Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was severely wounded at the First Battle of Bull Run, in 1861, and later personally appointed by President Lincoln to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Fred's in exclusive company—the dwindling group of children of soldiers who fought, North against South, 150...

Mark Maynard owns a used car lot, runs a towing business and spends his spare time on a professional drag racing pit crew. And despite not raising a dime for his Republican campaign, he defeated West Virginia's longest-sitting state senator. That was the kind of election it was for West Virginia Democrats. As voters took out their disgust with President Barack Obama, Maynard defeated Sen. Truman Chafin, a lawmaker Republicans previously had bothered to challenge only once in three decades. Not a single campaign check came Maynard's way, nor did he report spending anything. Potential donors told Maynard he didn't...

Dems Realize “War on Coal” Cost Them Coal Country by Daniel Greenfield People are funny that way. They cling to their bibles and guns. And then if you declare war on them, they don’t want to vote for you. Coal-heavy districts in West Virginia, Kentucky and Illinois that had been steadily moving away from Democrats in recent elections appear to have completed that shift Tuesday, when they overwhelmingly backed Republicans who vowed to oppose what they call President Barack Obama’s “war on coal.”In West Virginia, once a long-time Democratic stronghold, Republicans will take control of both houses of the state...

On Tuesday night, Republicans won big: They picked up governorships in blue states like Maryland, Massachusetts, and Illinois, and they held House seats in competitive districts with embarrassing incumbents like Michael Grimm of New York, who physically threatened a reporter and is under indictment for tax evasion. But their biggest win by far was taking control of the U.S. Senate. As of this writing, Republicans had already secured 52 Senate seats, thanks to knocking off Democratic incumbents or replacing retiring Democrats in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia. Another GOP pick up is probable in...

18-year-old Saira Blair, a Republican from West Virginia, just became the youngest elected lawmaker in the country after trouncing her 44-year-old Democratic opponent 63 percent to 30 percent to earn a seat in West Virginia’s House of Delegates.

Radical liberal feminism — the kind that likes abortion on demand and taxpayer-funded birth control — has been rejected at the polls. Or, at least, it’s been a really rough week, or so. And I’m not just talking about the fact that Sen.-elect Cory Gardner effectively pushed back on the “war on women” narrative by defeating Colorado’s ”Mark Uterus.”The story also played out in Texas, where — writing about the race — Mollie Hemingway observed: “Wendy Davis was the face of ‘War On Women’ Politics. How’d that go?” And it played out in California, where Sandra Fluke lost a bid for...

The state with the smallest share of Latinos in the nation has elected its first Latino congressional representative, Alex Mooney. Mooney, a conservative Republican, ran against Nick Casey, a former chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party. Mooney beat Casey with 46.7 to 44.2 percent of the vote, with 96 percent of precincts reporting. After his victory, Mooney tweeted: "I cannot thank you enough for this humbling opportunity to serve the people of West Virginia." Latinos make up just 1.2 percent – or slightly more than 22,268 – of the Eastern Panhandle state's population. Mooney, 43, ruffled feathers with his...

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says she want to remain the top Democrat in the House, announcing she will run again for her leadership position.Her take on the massive pro-life election victory on Tuesday night is that Republicans won a victory because of “voter suppression.” The Washington Times has more: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi asked her fellow Democrats to keep her on as their leader in the new Congress next year, saying she still has unfinished goals she wants to accomplish. She said the chief message she took from Tuesday’s election, which saw Democrats eviscerated at all levels, is...

If you’re concerned about the future of the country and want to know if the next generation of Americans cares about pro-life issues, look no further than the state of West Virginia. There, pro-life 18-year-old Saira Blair, who graduated from high school in May and is now a college freshman, ran on a pro-life platform to beat an incumbent state legislator. Blair gives hope to pro-lifers wondering if teenagers really “get it” and want to make a difference for life. sairablair2“I think I’m fully capable of doing the job, and I don’t think it’s rocket science by any means —...

West Virginia University student Saira Blair (R) will become the youngest person to ever serve in the West Virginia state legislature after getting elected Tuesday. Blair, an 18-year-old freshman, was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 59th district after beating her two opponents by a landslide. Blair received more than twice the votes of her main opponent, Democratic Party candidate Layne Dieh. “It was amazing to see that the 59th district had so much faith in me,” Blair said shortly after getting the results. Blair celebrated the victory at Buffalo Wild Wings before heading to...

A West Virginia University freshman who did most of her campaigning out of her dorm room became the youngest state lawmaker in the nation Tuesday. Republican Saira Blair, a fiscally conservative 18-year-old, will represent a small district in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle, about 1½ hours outside Washington, D.C., after defeating her Democratic opponent 63% to 30%, according to the Associated Press. A third candidate got 7% of the vote.

The campaign between Democratic incumbent Nick Rahall and Republican challenger Evan Jenkins for U.S. Congress, representing West Virginia's 3rd District seat, was one of the most anticipated and hotly contested races this fall. It was also one of the most highly financed, with an estimated $9 million spent on the campaigns. The Associated Press called a victory for Jenkins with about 80 percent of the votes reported Nov. 4.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Liberal MSNBC contributor Jimmy Williams said the “old white people” in the South who vote Republican are “going to die someday” and hopefully usher in a new era of Democratic rule in the region. Host Krystal Ball, a former failed Democratic congressional candidate, asked Williams whether white Southerners should just be written off by the party, but Williams said never, saying that since they are “for people” and Republicans aren’t, they would eventually win the day. “Mitt Romney only won South Carolina with 53 [percent], John McCain with 52,” he said. “That’s a changing South. Those old white people? They’re...

Fox News projects that Republicans are making another two pick-ups in the battle for the Senate. This brings their total so far to five, with just six needed to take control of the Senate. In Montana, Republican Steve Daines is projected to defeat Democrat Amanda Curtis, flipping control of the seat to the Republican Party for the first time since 1913. In Colorado, GOP Rep. Cory Gardner is projected to oust first-term Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, one of the most closely watched contests in this election cycle Republicans have picked up three Senate seats, Fox News projects, bringing them halfway...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Former Maryland state lawmaker Alex Mooney had a thin lead over Democrat Nick Casey in the race for West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. Democrat Nick Casey With 12 of 17 counties reporting (about 33 percent of precincts overall), Mooney had received 47 percent of the votes to Casey’s 44 percent. Each candidate was on pace to carry his home territory: Mooney with 54.9 percent in Berkeley County and Casey holding 55.4 percent in Kanawha County. The district was thrown open when seven-term Republican congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito launched a successful U.S. Senate campaign.

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito will be the first female Senator representing the Mountain State, and first Republican in 56 years. Just minutes after the polls closed, the Associated Press called the race. Typically, two candidates running for a spot in the U.S. Senate to represent a state don't share so much in common. That was not necessarily the case in the race for retiring U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.'s, spot in Washington. Capito and opponent, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, ran campaigns on pro-coal, pro-guns and pro-jobs; just some of the platforms each candidate shared. However, West Virginians showed...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Republican Evan Jenkins has defeated 19-term Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall in West Virginia for the District 3 U.S. House race, the AP reports.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell won a hard-fought sixth term Tuesday, putting him a step closer to his lifelong dream of becoming majority leader and getting the GOP off to a good start in its goal of taking control of the Senate. Helping his chances was Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's capture of the West Virginia seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller. Her victory, while not a surprise, gave Republicans the first of six new seats they will need to control the Senate for the first time in eight years...

New Polls Show Republicans Pulling Away In Key Senate Races November 02, 2014 Republican Senate candidates are pulling away in the final days of key races, according to polls released this weekend. Republicans are either leading in Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana or will likely win runoff elections, according to a NBC/Marist poll released Sunday. In addition, the Republican nominee in Iowa, Joni Ernst, now has a 7-point lead over Democratic challenger Rep Bruce Braley, according to a Des Moines Register poll released Saturday. Most polls have shown until now that the four races have essentially been deadlocked in the closing...