David McKinley

McKinley was ranked the 22nd most bipartisan member of the House during the 114th United States Congress (and the most bipartisan House member from West Virginia) by the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy, which ranks members of Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring how often each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member co-sponsors bills by members of the opposite party).

McKinley is an active supporter of the Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act.

David Bennett McKinley (born March 28, 1947) is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for WV's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2023.

He became only the fourth person to represent the district since 1953.

McKinley ran for reelection in the newly redrawn 1st district.

He defeated Democratic nominee Sue Thorn, a former community organizer, 62%–38%, winning every county in the district.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Purdue University in 1970.

McKinley worked as a civil engineer for 12 years until founding his own firm, McKinley and Associates, based in Wheeling.

The 40-member firm has been involved in $1 billion in construction projects over the past 30 years.

McKinley has renovated structures of historic significance in West Virginia communities, such as the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling.

A member of the Republican Party, McKinley was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1980 to 1994, and chaired the West Virginia Republican Party from 1990 to 1994.

McKinley is generally considered a moderate Republican.

McKinley was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1980 to 1994.

From 1990 to 1994, he chaired the West Virginia Republican Party.

As chair, he was very critical of West Virginia's two Democratic U.S. senators.

In 1991, he criticized Senator Jay Rockefeller for exploring a run for president against President George H. W. Bush.

In 1994, he criticized Senator Robert Byrd for opposing a Balanced Budget Amendment.

In 1996, McKinley ran in the Republican primary for governor against astronaut Jon McBride and former governor Cecil Underwood.

He came in third place; Underwood won the general election.

McKinley ran in WV's 1st congressional district.

The Democratic incumbent, Alan Mollohan, lost the Democratic primary to the more conservative State Senator Mike Oliverio.

McKinley won the six-candidate Republican primary with 35% of the vote.

Mac Warner ranked second with 27% of the vote and State Senator Sarah Minear ranked third with 21%.

McKinley received many endorsements during his campaign, including from Parkersburg News, National Right to Life, the West Virginians for Life PAC, the National Federation of Independent Business, House Republicans Fund, West Virginia Farm Bureau, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

McKinley narrowly defeated Oliverio, 50.4%–49.6%, a difference of just 1,440 votes.

In April 2011, he was one of only four Republican members of Congress to vote against the Republican budget proposal of 2012.

He said, "As it relates to the Medicare, I applaud what Paul Ryan was trying to do, because we need to have an adult conversation about it. The Congressional Budget Office determined that some of the out-of-pocket costs could double for seniors and that sent up a red flag for me that we need to look at it."

In 2013, McKinley announced that he would not run for the open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Jay Rockefeller in 2014.

McKinley defeated the Democratic nominee, West Virginia State Auditor Glen Gainer III, 64%–36%.

In 2016, McKinley defeated former State Delegate Mike Manypenny, 69%–31%.

In 2018, McKinley defeated West Virginia University law professor Kendra Fershee, 64.6%–35.4%.

After West Virginia lost a House seat in the 2020 redistricting cycle, his district was merged with that of Representative Alex Mooney.

McKinley lost to Mooney with 35.6% of the vote in the 2022 Republican primary.

McKinley was born in Wheeling, West Virginia.

In 2020, McKinley defeated computational linguist Natalie Cline 69%–31%.

As a result of the 2020 United States Census and the 2020 redistricting cycle, the West Virginia legislature divided the state into northern and southern districts, and abandoned its longtime practice of starting the numbering in the north, assigning the southern counties to the new 1st district.

This resulted in McKinley and 2nd district Representative Alex Mooney being together in the new 2nd district, and both incumbents declared their intention to run in the district.

In a race that received nationwide attention, Mooney defeated McKinley in the Republican primary on May 10 even though the new district was geographically more McKinley's district.

Donald Trump endorsed Mooney before the election, and McKinley, who has been ranked as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, was criticized for holding moderate views.

McKinley has broken ranks with the Republican majority several times in his tenure in Congress.