Outgoing Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin
Democrats finally lost this conservative southern West Virginia seat last year, with Republican Evan Jenkins unseating longtime Democratic incumbent Nick Rahall 55-45. Romney
won this seat 65-33 and it's hard to see Team Blue recapturing this ancestrally Democratic seat anytime soon, but the party is reaching out to one of the few politicians who might have a shot here. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, who is termed-out next year,
confirms that he's been approached, and that he hasn't made "any final decisions on anything yet."
It's rare for someone to go from being a governor to a House member, but it's not unheard of. Mike Castle of Delaware and Bill Janklow of South Dakota successfully ran for their state's sole House seats as they were being termed-out. Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford also returned to Congress about two years after leaving the governor's mansion, though few politicians are going to try emulating Sanford's career path. Still, it's often hard enough to convince former or soon-to-be-former governors to run for the Senate, where they're forced to go from being their state's top dog to becoming just one member of a 100-person chamber: Becoming a freshman House member is an even less appealing prospect.
Still, if the DCCC can land Tomblin, he'd be a good get. Tomblin carried the 3rd 54-42 during his 2012 re-election campaign, quite a bit better than his 50-46 statewide win. Tomblin will be 65 on Election Day, so he'd have some time to amass seniority if he sticks around. There are still several Democratic legislators in coal country so the DCCC has some backup options if Tomblin says no, but it won't be easy for anyone to beat the well-funded Jenkins, and there's little doubt that Tomblin would be the best candidate they can get.