Alex Mooney Defeats David McKinley in GOP Primary

Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) defeated Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) in a primary in West Virginia that again proved both the power of an endorsement by former President Donald Trump and the weight that right-wing ideology holds with Republican primary voters, the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Mooney, a four-term House Republican known more as a conservative warrior than a legislator, used Mr. Trump’s endorsement to overcome a distinct disadvantage: The redrawn district he was running in included far more of Mr. McKinley’s old district than Mr. Mooney’s.”

“The huge margins Mr. Mooney was able to run up in the fast-growing counties from his old district along the Maryland state line proved too great for Mr. McKinley… It was a thorough repudiation of Mr. McKinley’s pragmatism.”