Endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., is Decision Desk HQ’s winner over Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., by 54%-36% with 95% of the vote in for a hotly contested West Virginia House GOP primary Tuesday night.
“I love West Virginia,” Trump posted to Truth Social shortly after Mooney’s victory was declared by Decision Desk HQ at 8:42 p.m. ET. “Congratulations to Alex Mooney on his big win!!!”
The unusual West Virginia race pitted two incumbent Republican members of Congress against each other, but only one had Trump’s endorsement, while the other supported President Joe Biden’s infrastructure deal.
“Donald Trump loves West Virginia, and West Virginia loves Donald Trump,” Mooney said in his victory speech.
Also, incumbent Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., easily won the Republican nomination in the West Virginia’s 1st District on Tuesday, defeating four little-known candidates and setting herself on a clear path to reelection.
Miller was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Miller had voted against the creation of a commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. She also voted against President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure bill.
The victories run Trump’s 2022 midterm primary record to 57-0 with a big results due in Nebraska later Tuesday night.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., also endorsed McKinley.
McKinley was sharply criticized by Trump when he broke with his party as one of 13 Republicans to vote with the Democrats to support Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Trump called McKinley a RINO, or “Republican in Name Only” and endorsed Mooney the day Biden signed the infrastructure law.
The two incumbents, who have taken dramatically different approaches to their time in office, were pitted against each other in the state’s 2nd Congressional District after population losses cost West Virginia a U.S. House seat.