In a uncommon GOP major race, two West Virginia congressmen are going head-to-head as a results of redistricting, and former President Donald Trump is endorsing one in every of them.
However whereas Trump is touting his decide, Alex Mooney, as a "conservative warrior," it's the so-called RINO (Republican in Identify Solely), David McKinley, who was extra supportive of Trump's agenda throughout his presidency.
McKinley backed the Trump White Home's place on payments 91.1 % of the time, whereas Mooney voted that manner 86.4 % of the time, based on knowledge from CQ Roll Name. McKinley opposed Trump's place solely 15 occasions, in contrast with Mooney's 23.
The race between the 2 Home incumbents has garnered a variety of noteworthy endorsements and can check Trump's affect over Republican voters. Whereas Mooney has Trump's backing, McKinley has been endorsed by West Virginia's Republican governor, Jim Justice, in addition to its Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, and former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served underneath Trump.
In a press release asserting his endorsement of Mooney, Trump referred to as McKinley "a RINO who supported the 'Unfrastructure Invoice' and the Sham January 6 Unselect Committee."
Trump was referring to McKinley's Home votes supporting President Joe Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure regulation and the creation of a Home committee to analyze the January 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol final yr.
McKinley—who campaigned on infrastructure funding when he was first elected to Congress in 2010—is among the many 13 Home Republicans Trump has repeatedly condemned for backing the bipartisan infrastructure invoice. The congressman has mentioned the laws is predicted to offer greater than $700 million to West Virginia over the following 5 years.
On the identical day that Biden signed the invoice into regulation, Trump endorsed Mooney—a transfer McKinley had anticipated. "They mentioned, 'You recognize, if that occurs, Trump goes to endorse your opponent,'" he advised Roll Name.
The 75-year-old civil engineer and seventh-generation West Virginian was additionally one in every of 35 Home Republicans who voted to create the January 6 fee. He advised radio community West Virginia MetroNews that the brand new panel would "assist us unravel what occurred that day and perceive the components that contributed to it."
Mooney voted in opposition to each the infrastructure invoice and the January 6 committee.
McKinley's vote on the infrastructure invoice earned him the assist of West Virginia's governor, a Trump ally. However enthusiasm for the previous president stays excessive within the Mountain State. Trump gained in each county in each 2016 and 2020, gaining greater than two-thirds of the state's voters.
"McKinley additionally betrayed Republican voters in West Virginia and the good folks of West Virginia," Trump mentioned at a tele-rally for Mooney on Tuesday. "You recognize, I gained there twice, and I gained by nearly record-setting numbers."
Newsweek reached out to McKinley and Trump for remark.
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