West Virginia has elected pork barrelers to Congress for generations. The late Senator Robert Byrd poured so much federal money into the state that more than 50 buildings or roads are named for him or his wife.
But that may be changing. Redistricting threw two GOP Congressmen together in a primary this week, and the only one who voted for the Biden infrastructure bill lost by 18 points.
Six-term Congressman David McKinley had the support of GOP Governor Jim Justice, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
His opponent, Congressman Alex Mooney, voted against the bill even though it earmarked $13 billion for West Virginia. He attacked McKinley as a supporter of “Biden’s socialist spending spree.”
Repubs in Congress should take note of what’s happened to the 13 House Republicans who voted for the Biden green energy bill. Five dropped out of their re-election races. A sixth died in office (Don Young of Alaska). Now McKinley has been defeated, and he may not be the last to pay a steep political price for supporting the budget blowout in Washington.
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