Alex Mooney defeats Barry Wendell for U.S. House 2nd District seat

Nov. 9—MORGANTOWN — Republican Congressman Alex Mooney handily won the race to represent West Virginia's new 2nd District Congressional seat Tuesday evening.

With 701 of 777 precincts reporting, Mooney led Democrat Barry Wendell with 142, 644 votes (65 %) to Wendell's 76, 730 votes (35 %). Figures are unofficial pending canvassing.

West Virginia's population loss led to the loss of a seat in the House of Representatives — going from three seats to two. Mooney represents the current 2nd District, spanning 17 counties across the center of the state. The new district covers 27 northern counties.

Mooney had been considered the frontrunner and in terms of campaign accounts, he vastly outraised and outspent Wendell.

Wendell won Monongalia County with 14, 082 votes to Mooney's 11, 794. Mooney took heavily Republican Preston with 6, 233 votes to Wendell's 2, 581.

For the election periods running through Oct. 19, Mooney had raised $1, 420, 872.03 from individuals, $5, 000 from party committees and $395, 240.24 from PACS. His transfers from other authorized committees totaled $2, 409, 427.32. His operating expenditures for the entire election cycle — taking into account he won a hard-fought primary against his 1st District colleague David McKinley — were $3, 522, 761.08.

Wendell, on the other hand, raised only $23, 817.09 from individuals plus $290.09 from a single PAC. His operating expenditures were $22, 334.52.

Mooney said in a text exchange, "What a night ! The voters have spoken.

"At this time, " he continued, "I have received over 60 % of the vote. I thank the voters of the 27 beautiful counties in West Virginia's Second Congressional District for sending me back to the U.S. House of Representatives. There is much work to be done to get our country back on track by securing our border and getting inflation under control.

"I look forward to working with the new Republican majorities in Congress to stop the partisan witch hunts and instead fight for constitutional freedoms for all Americans."

Wendell said, "We had a great campaign. I enjoyed it very much, visiting all the small towns in the district. ... I met a lot of really cool people all over the district." But he never met Mooney.

He praised his "wonderful committee of women " who worked for his campaign and he's proud of their work.

Wendell said it was a good campaign for a Democrat. "A lot of people said it was a suicide mission, " but he "just had to do it."

And he looked ahead to whoever wins the party nomination in 2024. "Mooney belter watch out next time."

TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp EMAIL dbeard @dominionpost.com