Posted on 04/26/2010 12:32:02 AM PDT by Maelstorm
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) is seeing his first Democratic primary challenger since 1992, and his name is Mike Oliverio. (Mollohan is currently running to secure his 14th term in the House of Representatives.
His challenger, Mike Oliverio, currently holds a seat on the West Virginia State Senate.
Recent polls show the 27 year veteran facing quite an opposition. A seat once thought would certainly be held by Mollohan is now up for contention, and Oliverio has an upper hand going into the final week of April.
During the last week of January, as Oliverio prepared for a potential run for Congress, he commissioned Orion Strategies to conduct a poll of 600 Democratic voters likely to vote in the primary based on their history. Oliverio pointed to two factors in the poll’s results that led him to decide to run against Mollohan, D-W.Va.
Asked the question "In a race between Alan Mollohan and another Democratic candidate, would you vote for Alan Mollohan?" half of those responding said they would vote for Mollohan, while another 23 percent were undecided. The voters also were asked if they approved of leadership of some top Democrats. Gov. Joe Manchin’s resulting approval rating was 67 percent; that of President Barack Obama, 46 percent; and Mollohan’s, 40 percent
This is just an example of the political climate surrounding state politics in West Virginia, and specifically on Mollohan as reported in the Wheeling Intelligencer
Aaron Blake, of The Hill’s Ballot Box Campaign Blog, had this to say:
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) is in serious trouble in his primary, according to a new poll released by state Sen. Mike Oliverio.
The poll, which was conducted by in-state pollster Orion Strategies, shows Oliverio surging to an eight-point lead on the incumbent, 41-33. A couple months ago, Mollohan led 41-31
Growing opposition to Rep. Mollohan continues in the wake of corruption charges that have been brought against him over the past few years. A recent investigation by the DOJ was dropped, but the public opinion has been significantly dropping.
There are roughly 17 days until the primary election, it will be very interesting to see how this develops. Does Oliverio have a chance to win the primary and face a Republican foe in the November elections?
We shall see.
Oliverio is pretty slick. We just need to be careful in the primaries. We don’t want to repeat what happened in CT. If we could have saved a bit of our ammunition we’d have had a sure win of a Senate seat in the NE. Now we have an uphill battle.
Who’s the Republican?
Question for mountaineers, isn’t Oliverio the guy who used to take care of yup-yup man?
By the way, those are really good peppers, made in Clarksburg, WV.
Oliveria sounds an awful lot like a conservative democrat. I hope the GOP has found somebody who had balls enough to serve in uniform, as Oliverio did, to run against him. I can see why Mollohan may be having some problems with this guy...
Whoever wins on May 11 will likely get 25-30% of the GOP turnout of (124,000 x 50%) or say 15-20,000 votes. Whoever wins the Democrat primary will have to get 50%+ of Dem turnout of (200,000 x 50%) or at least 50,000 votes.
I agree that him winning the Democrat primary will not be a net positive. Lots of us just want him to get close and show that Mollohan is vulnerable.
I'm not so sure. I've listened to all of them speak, and the most conservative is Tom Stark, followed by Mac Warner, followed by Sarah Minear.
David McKinley would come in fourth in my book. It also makes me suspicious that he was endorsed by the National Republican Congressional Committee (Remember NY-23?). The national republicans also endorsed the RINOs in Florida and Kentucky. I'd rather pick my own candidate, thank you.
We gain nothing by putting a D back there again! David has name recognition from years in state politics. and in his business dealings. I am running for State Senate (15th) against the guy who runs the finance committee, Helmick (D). He's a solid union D flunky. I probably won't win, but have been making him spend lots of money on big billboards...
The national pubbies don't do much in WV...
Good Luck. I'm running for State Senate (12th) to retire Joe Minard.
I believe that either Warner, Minyer, or McKinley could each beat Mollohan if he survives the primary.
If Oliverio wins the primary, I hope the most conservative wins in order to be able to draw a bigger distinction.....if we offer the public a choice between a moderate Dem and a moderate Repub, the registration numbers work in their favor. I believe McKinley and to a lesser extent Minear with their time in the state legislature have conditioned themselves to "Reach across the aisle". That blurs the distinction.
If I manage to win my election, I will not be going to Charleston to see how well I can get along with the Democrats (Think of Russ Weeks).
Maybe, maybe not. This reverts to an open seat, and a race against somebody without financial or incumbent advantages, etc. Still winnable.
I'll offer them an "alternative" to business as union usual!
I agree McKinley is the best for the Job. I think he is going to win the nomination.
Once McKinley gets in there the seat will be ours for a long long time.
Yes it is. I grew up in the district.
I kept going back and forth in my head about which was most advantageous. Right now Mollohan is critically wounded and I still thing that he is best to run against however I still think the race is more than winnable. This district has went GOP for President twice for George Bush and for John McCain. There is no reason we should be able to win it just running against Obama.
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