Thursday May 13, 2010
Pro-Life Dem Topples Pro-ObamaCare Incumbent in West Virginia Primary
By Peter J. Smith
CHARLESTON, West Virginia, May 13, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-life advocates have claimed their first victory in their effort to topple Democrat Congressmen who identify as pro-life, but who voted for abortion-expanding health care reform legislation earlier this year. Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-W.Va.) was ousted from the seat he has held for nearly 28 years by his more pro-life and conservative challenger in the Democratic primary on Tuesday.
Pro-life state Sen. Mike Oliverio won the primary with 56 percent of the vote to Mollohan's 44 percent, meaning that Oliverio will run to represent West Virginia’s first district against former state delegate and GOP candidate David McKinley in the November election.
Mollohan’s defeat is a bad omen for Democrats that have allied themselves closely with President Barack Obama’s agenda, particularly the unpopular health care reform. The defeated Democrat Congressman was a giant, with a great deal of seniority in the House. He had held his seat for 14 terms, and “inherited” the seat from his father, Bob Mollohan, who held it since 1968. Mollohan’s last serious primary challenger was in 1992, and only presented a challenge due to redistricting.
But he had three things going against him in the primary: he struggled with unresolved ethics violations of enriching himself, family, and friends; the prevailing political winds are against Democrats for voting for the unpopular health care law; and he alienated the pro-life base by voting for the health care reform without statutory language demanded by pro-life groups and the U.S. Catholic bishops that would have guaranteed no federal funds would pay for health care plans that subsidize abortion.
Oliviero hit Mollohan hard on all points, and also accused him of being “one of the most corrupt members of Congress.”
Pro-life advocates had targeted Mollohan for defeat this year. The National Right to Life Committee endorsed Oliverio, who ran to the right of Mollohan and told his fellow West Virginia Democrats that he would never have supported the Obama health care reform bill, and would not vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
“Just as Bart Stupak did, Congressman Mollohan now fully realizes that votes do have consequences,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List. “Mollohan’s loss comes as a direct result of his vote for health care reform that included federal funding of abortion.”
Susan B. Anthony List also supported Oliverio, and poured $78,000 into the district, targeting Mollohan over his health care vote with television ads, radio ads, and robo-calls.
The group has dedicated a million dollars to replacing pro-ObamaCare Democrats with other pro-life candidates. It has in its sights Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, who is running for Senate, Rep. Steve Driehaus of Ohio, and Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania, who all voted for the health care reform without the abortion funding restrictions once sought – then abandoned last minute – by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.).
“This should be just another sign to ‘pro-life’ Democrats that voted for the healthcare bill that they will face the same consequences as Stupak and Mollohan.”
Oliverio is a pro-life Catholic, who also supports a constitutional ban on same-sex “marriage” in West Virginia. When he began his campaign to oust Mollohan, he said he was putting the matter in God’s hands, an attitude that he will likely carry into the election battle with his GOP opponent in November.
"We start every campaign by putting it in God’s hands,” he told the Times West Virginian in April. “And we know that His will shall be done. And if it is His will for us to win, we will win. And if not, He has a higher and better purpose for me somewhere else."