West Virginia's 2nd congressional district
West Virginia's 2nd congressional district since January 3, 2023
Representative	Alex Mooney R–Charles Town
Population (2022)	898,343
Median household income	$59,773[1]
Ethnicity	94.4% White 3.6% Black 0.8% Hispanic 0.5% Asian 0.2% Native American 0.1% other
Cook PVI	R+22[2]

West Virginia's 2nd congressional district consists of the northern half of the state. It contains Barbour, Berkeley, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Lewis, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pleasants, Preston, Randolph, Ritchie, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wetzel, and Wood counties.^[3]

The district is currently represented by Alex Mooney, a Republican.

The legislature placed both the previous 1st district congressman David McKinley and the previous 2nd district congressman Alex Mooney in the new 2nd district, setting up a Republican primary race between Mooney and McKinley.^[4] In the Republican Primary held on May 10, 2022, Mooney, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, easily defeated McKinley, who was endorsed by Democrat Joe Manchin 54% to 36%, with three minor candidates receiving the balance. ^[5] Mooney then easily won the general election.

History

The second district as originally formed in 1863 included Taylor, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Tucker, Barbour, Upshur, Webster, Pocahontas, Randolph, Pendleton, Hardy, Hampshire, Berkeley, and Morgan counties (Jefferson county's status in the state was still in dispute, and Grant and Mineral counties were still part of other counties, but the modern territory of all was also included). It was essentially the successor of Virginia's 10th congressional district. The district was unchanged for 1882.

In 1902, the district was changed to Monongalia, Preston, Tucker, Taylor, Barbour, Tucker, Randolph, Pendleton, Grant, Hardy, Mineral, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson counties. The district was unchanged for 1916. Taylor was removed for 1934. The district was again unchanged for 1954. In 1962 Upshur, Webster, Pocahontas, and Greenbrier counties were added. In 1972, Lewis, Monroe, Summers, and Fayette were added. In 1982, Barbour was added.

1992 saw the district consist of Berkeley, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Glimer, Hampshire, Hardy, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Mason, Morgan, Nicholas, Pendleton, Putnam, Randolph, Roane, Upshur, and Wirt counties. In 2002, Gilmer and Nicholas were removed and for the election cycle beginning in 2012, Mason was removed.^[6]

Responding to the 2020 census, the district was reconstituted to contain Barbour, Berkeley, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Lewis, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Monongalia, Morgan, Ohio, Pleasants, Preston, Randolph, Ritchie, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wetzel, and Wood.^[7]

Election results from statewide races

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Dates	Cong ress	Electoral history
District established December 7, 1863
William G. Brown Sr. (Kingwood)	Unconditional Unionist	December 7, 1863 – March 3, 1865	38th	Elected in 1863. Retired.
George R. Latham (Grafton)	Unconditional Unionist	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1867	39th	Elected in 1864. Retired.
Bethuel Kitchen (Martinsburg)	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869	40th	Elected in 1866. Retired.
James McGrew (Kingwood)	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1873	41st 42nd	Elected in 1868. Re-elected in 1870. Retired.
John Hagans (Morgantown)	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	Elected in 1872. Lost re-election as an Independent.
Charles J. Faulkner (Martinsburg)	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th	Elected in 1874. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Benjamin F. Martin (Pruntytown)	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1881	45th 46th	Elected in 1876. Re-elected in 1878. Lost renomination.
John B. Hoge (Martinsburg)	Democratic	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883	47th	Elected in 1880. Retired.
William Lyne Wilson (Charles Town)	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1895	48th 49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd	Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Re-elected in 1890. Re-elected in 1892. Lost re-election.
Alston G. Dayton (Philippi)	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 16, 1905	54th 55th 56th 57th 58th 59th	Elected in 1894. Re-elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Resigned when appointed as a judge of US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia
Vacant		March 16, 1905 – June 6, 1905	59th
Thomas Beall Davis (Keyser)	Democratic	June 6, 1905 – March 3, 1907		Elected to finish Dayton's term. Retired.
George Cookman Sturgiss (Morgantown)	Republican	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911	60th 61st	Elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Lost re-election.
William Gay Brown Jr. (Kingwood)	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 9, 1916	62nd 63rd 64th	Elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Died.
Vacant		March 9, 1916 – May 9, 1916	64th
George Meade Bowers (Martinsburg)	Republican	May 9, 1916 – March 3, 1923	64th 65th 66th 67th	Elected to finish Brown's term. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Lost re-election.
Robert E. Lee Allen (Morgantown)	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1925	68th	Elected in 1922. Lost re-election.
Frank Llewellyn Bowman (Morgantown)	Republican	March 4, 1925 – March 3, 1933	69th 70th 71st 72nd	Elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Lost re-election.
Jennings Randolph (Elkins)	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1947	73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th	Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Lost re-election.
Melvin C. Snyder (Kingwood)	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	80th	Elected in 1946. Lost re-election.
Harley Orrin Staggers (Keyser)	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1981	81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th	Elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Retired.
Cleve Benedict (Lewisburg)	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983	97th	Elected in 1980. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Harley O. Staggers Jr. (Keyser)	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Redistricted to the 1st district and lost renomination.
Bob Wise (Clendenin)	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2001	103rd 104th 105th 106th	Redistricted from the 3rd district and re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Retired to run for Governor of West Virginia.
Shelley Moore Capito (Charleston)	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2015	107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	Elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Alex Mooney (Charles Town)	Republican	January 3, 2015 – present	114th 115th 116th 117th 118th	Elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Retiring at end of term to run for U.S. senator.

Recent election results

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

2013 - 2023

See also

• West Virginia's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

Specific

General

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

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