WHEELING - The race among Republican candidates seeking West Virginia's 1st District congressional seat is tight and becoming more tense as Election Day nears.
With the mud flying and accusations being tossed between candidates, voters on May 11 will choose who they want to represent them in Washington, D.C.
Six GOP candidates are seeking the position currently held by U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va. - a 28-year incumbent. They are Cindy Hall, Patricia VanGilder Levenson, David McKinley, Sarah Minear, Thomas Stark and Mac Warner.
Two of them, McKinley of Wheeling and Minear of Morgantown, are largely financing their own campaigns. Minear has contributed $502,000 to her effort, representing 96 percent of her campaign cash. McKinley has given himself $250,000, accounting for 55 percent of all funds he has raised.
Morgantown resident Warner, meanwhile, has been battling personal financial issues. He and three of his brothers filed for bankruptcy protection this year regarding their McCoy 6 real estate development company. Last month, the Warners also filed suit against city of Morgantown, claiming that harassment and intimidation by the city's fire and building code inspectors led to their financial woes and bankruptcy.
The Warners reported debt of $14 million, with just $24,000 in the company's bank account. Each of the four brothers - Mac, Kris, Ben and Monty Warner - owns 25 percent of the company.
On the campaign trail, both Warner and Minear have launched attacks against McKinley.
Warner has questioned McKinley's comments that - if elected - he wouldn't promise to read every piece of legislation because it would not be possible. McKinley has pledged not to vote for any bill he has not read, however.
Minear, meanwhile, has brought attention to votes McKinley cast while a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, specifically his vote in favor of the Business and Tax Reform Act of 1985. Minear, who was then a state senator, asserts the legislation "raised taxes on job creators by almost 30 percent." McKinley has pointed out the reform act was welcomed by businesses, a point in which he is supported by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
Hall is a California native who chose to relocate to Wheeling with her daughter. In California, she owned a real estate management and investment company for more than 30 years. She said she managed more than 2,000 living units through her agency and had more than 100 employees
Since moving to Wheeling, Hall has been involved with community efforts to save local buildings such as the Capitol Theatre. She most recently has been involved with the "We The People Ohio Valley" tea party movement and bills herself as the "grassroots candidate" in the election.
Levenson is a Wheeling resident who grew up in Fairmont, W.Va. She and husband Robert owned, operated and financed retail furniture stores locally and in the South, and they are part of the family who owned and operated Reichart's in Wheeling.
The couple lived in North Carolina and Georgia before returning to Wheeling.
Stark, of Parkersburg, is a retired civil servant who relocated to West Virginia in 1997 to be a businessman and furniture maker.
Before coming to West Virginia, Stark served for more than 20 years in management positions with private sector employers, concluding his career with the Orange County, Fla., government. In Orange County, Stark served as a public services manager and later as assistant deputy clerk to the board of county commissioners.
He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1965-69, including a year in Thailand and Vietnam.
