Democratic Primary--West Virginia's 1st District--75% of Precincts Reporting
Michael Oliverio 29,034 (56%)
Rep. Alan Mollohan 22,774 (44%)
Congressman Alan Mollohan, who has served the northern tier of West Virginia in Congress since he claimed the seat upon his father's retirement from the House in 1982, will see his tenure in office expire at the end of this year.
Mollohan was defeated this evening by state Senator Mike Oliverio, who played on his "outside the beltway" status and hit Mollohan repeatedly on the ethics front.
Mollohan was a centrist Democrat, but his defeat this evening is certainly no cause for progressive delight. Oliverio, if anything, ran to the right of Mollohan, and even hinted that he would not support Nancy Pelosi for Speaker if elected. If this sounds familiar, it does have a certain resemblance to a freshman Congressman from Alabama who switched parties just ten months into his Congressional tenure.
In other primary news...
- The GOP primary to face Oliverio was far closer, but former state legislator David McKinley scored the victory tonight. McKinley notched 35% of the vote, pulling away from attorney Mac Warner, who trailed with 26% of the vote.
- Down in WV-03, longtime incumbent Nick Rahall is winning his primary in fairly unimpressive fashion (leading Bruce Barilla 65-35). Meanwhile, the GOP side is the one cliffhanger of the night, with former state Supreme Court Justice (and former Democrat) Spike Maynard up at present by just 100 votes over perennial candidate Marty Gearheart.
- In a special election in one of the reddest districts in the nation (GA-09), it will be a runoff for Tom Graves and Lee Hawkins, a pair of Republicans. The lone Democrat in the race, Mike Freeman, trailed badly in the single digits.
- It is still reasonably early in Omaha (about 28% of precincts reporting), but it appears that potentially vulnerable Congressman Lee Terry has handled his teabagging primary rival, Matt Sakalosky, although in a less-than-dominant manner (66% to 34%).