When those of us at West Virginia Blue began our effort to draft a challenger for Iraq war supporting Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, it looked like we were on a Quixotic quest.
Afterall, Capito had won in 2006 against what should have been an attractive challenger, former state Democratic chairman Mike Callaghan, with 57 percent of the vote.
This is a district that after long being a Democratic area went for George W. Bush twice.
So I turned to a Democrat I was familiar with, my own state senator, John Unger.
Not only did we seek to draft him, so did the DCCC.
He had won his district with 67 percent of the vote in Berkeley and 65 percent in Jefferson counties in 2006 against a well-funded Republican challenger.
So did we find a good candidate to run against Capito? The West Virginia AFL-CIO seems to think so.
West Virginia AFL-CIO Endorses John Unger in Congressional Race
CHARLESTON - John Unger, Democratic Congressional Candidate in West Virginia's 2nd District, announced today that he secured the key endorsement of the West Virginia American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (WV AFL-CIO). WV AFL-CIO's endorsement of Unger's candidacy is the earliest endorsement of a challenger in the organization's history.
"It is an exciting time in the labor movement because working people are realizing that organized labor is the only advocate for the middle class to grow," WV AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue said. "I believe that the middle class values of John Unger will be an asset to us and help ensure a better life for all working people."
"I am proud to stand for the working men and women of West Virginia and our country and honored by their support," Unger said. "I have always believed that hard work is the driving force behind our nation's prosperity, and think its time our working families have someone who looks out for them. In Congress, I will be a voice for West Virginia's working men and women, representing their interests and protecting their futures."
The West Virginia AFL-CIO is a group of more than 420 affiliated unions joined together for the common cause of fairness for all workers. On November 3, 2007 in Charleston, WV the WV AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education met and endorsed John Unger for the 2nd Congressional District.
Capito, who voted against the Employee Free Choice Act, has been able to garner union support in the past. The early endorsement of Unger bodes well for his challenge of her in the general election. Unger faces a primary opponent, Thornton Cooper, who finished fourth out of five candidates in a Democratic primary for the South Charleston mayor's race in 2007 and lost in the 2006 primary to be the Democratic candidate in a state senate race.
So the real race is going to be Unger vs. Capito until the election.