| Nick Rahall | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 3rd district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1993 |
|
| Preceded by | Bob Wise |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 4th district |
|
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1993 |
|
| Preceded by | Ken Hechler |
| Succeeded by | District Eliminated |
| Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard Pombo |
| Succeeded by | Doc Hastings |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 20, 1949 Beckley, West Virginia |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Melinda Rahall |
| Residence | Beckley, West Virginia |
| Alma mater | Duke University George Washington University |
| Occupation | Broadcast executive |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Nick Joe Rahall II (born May 20, 1949) is the U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 3rd congressional district, serving since 1977. Rahall is currently Ranking Member of the House Resources Committee. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes much of the southern portion of the state, including Huntington, Bluefield and Beckley. Rahall has served in Congress since 1977.
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Rahall was born in Beckley. He is of Lebanese descent. His father was a businessowner with diverse holdings, including many radio stations throughout the state. Rahall graduated in 1971 from Duke University. Following his graduation, he attended graduate school at the George Washington University. He then went to work for the late U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (who was from nearby Sophia) as a staff member.
Rahall was first elected to Congress in 1976 in what was then the 4th district, after nine-term incumbent Democrat Ken Hechler gave up his seat to run for governor. Rahall won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 38%.[1] Hechler lost the primary for governor, and tried to mount a write-in campaign for his old congressional seat. However, Rahall won the general election with 46% of the vote, while Hechler got 37%.[2] In 1978, Hechler challenged Rahall in the Democratic primary, and Rahall won with 56% of the vote.[3] He has been re-elected 17 times.[4] Hechler became the West Virginia Secretary of State a few years later, and ran against Rahall in the primary again in 1990. Rahall once again defeated him, this time with 57% of the vote.[5]
Only three times has he gotten less than 61% of the vote in a general election (1976, 1990, and 2010). In 1990, he defeated Republican insurance agent Marianne Brewster[6] with just 52%, the second lowest winning percentage of his career.[7] His poor performance may have been caused by the nasty primary election with Ken Hechler back in May of that year. The district was renumbered the 3rd after the 1990 census, when West Virginia's declining population cost the state a congressional seat. In 2010, he defeated Republican State Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard with just 56% of the vote, the third lowest winning percentage in a general election in his career.[8] Out of the seventeen counties in the district, Maynard won just two of them: Raleigh (52%) and Mercer (53%).[9] Assuming Rahall completes this term, he will pass Harley Staggers, who represented the now-defunct 2nd District from 1949 to 1981, as the longest-serving US Representative in West Virginia's history.
Rahall is a staunch opponent of legislation designed to end Mountaintop Removal Mining, a process often used to mine coal in West Virginia,[10] and has introduced legislation to improve mine safety.[11]
Rahall strongly believes in global warming, remarking to the Register-Herald that denial of climate change is "to just put your head in the sand."[12] However, as a strong advocate for the coal industry, Rahall voted both against the American Clean Energy and Security Act and to block the Environmental Protection Agency from reducing the gases blamed for global warming.[13]
On October 3, 2008 Rep. Rahall voted in favor of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.[14] He said he believes the Constitution grants Congress the authority to "purchase assets and equity from financial institutions in order to strengthen its financial sector." In November 2009 and March 2010 he voted in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act.[15]
Rahall received attention when he, along with other Lebanese American lawmakers, expressed concern with a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict without adding language urging restraint against civilian targets, saying, "I'm just sick in the stomach, to put it mildly." Rahall assisted in drafting a bipartisan alternative resolution that urged "all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure."[16]
He has a mixed record on gay rights. He voted for the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity as hate crimes in April 2009 but was one of 15 Democrats who voted against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in December 2010.[17]
In 2011, he co-sponsored HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.[18] The bill contained an exception for "forcible rape," which opponents criticized as potentially excluding drug-facilitated rape, date rape, and other forms of rape.[19] The bill also allowed an exception for minors who are victims of incest.[18]
In August 2010, Politico reported that in February 2005, Rahall used congressional stationery to write a letter to a Fairfax County judge asking for leniency for his son, Nick Rahall III, who was facing felony robbery charges. The congressman denied that his son was given special treatment because of his father's status as a member of Congress or because of his intervention. Rahall acknowledged that he should not have used congressional stationery for letter but said it was not the same type that he uses for official or committee business. Rahall stated he may have drawn the wrong paper "[i]n the emotions" and that he would reimburse the Treasury for the cost.[20][21]
The House Ethics Committee has not launched an inquiry into the incident.[22]
| Year | Democrat | Votes | % | Republican | Votes | % | Third Party | Party | Votes | % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Nick Rahall | 73,626 | 46% | F. S. Goodman | 28,825 | 18% | Ken Hechler | Democratic (write-in) | 59,067 | 37% | ||||
| 1978 | Nick Rahall | 70,035 | 100% | No candidate | ||||||||||
| 1980 | Nick Rahall | 117,595 | 77% | Winton Covey | 36,020 | 23% | ||||||||
| 1982 | Nick Rahall | 91,184 | 81% | Homer Harris | 22,054 | 19% | ||||||||
| 1984 | Nick Rahall | 98,919 | 67% | Jess Shumate | 49,474 | 33% | ||||||||
| 1986 | Nick Rahall | 58,217 | 71% | Martin Miller | 23,490 | 29% | ||||||||
| 1988 | Nick Rahall | 78,812 | 61% | Marianne Brewster | 49,753 | 39% | ||||||||
| 1990 | Nick Rahall | 39,948 | 52% | David Morrill | 36,946 | 48% |
| Year | Democrat | Votes | % | Republican | Votes | % | Third Party | Party | Votes | % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Nick Rahall | 122,279 | 66% | Ben Waldman | 64,012 | 34% | ||||||||
| 1994 | Nick Rahall | 74,967 | 64% | Ben Waldman | 42,382 | 36% | ||||||||
| 1996 | Nick Rahall | 145,550 | 100% | No candidate | ||||||||||
| 1998 | Nick Rahall | 78,814 | 87% | No candidate | Joe Whelan | Libertarian | 12,196 | 13% | ||||||
| 2000 | Nick Rahall | 146,807 | 91% | No candidate | Jeff Robinson | Libertarian | 13,979 | 9% | ||||||
| 2002 | Nick Rahall | 87,783 | 70% | Paul Chapman | 37,229 | 30% | ||||||||
| 2004 | Nick Rahall | 142,682 | 65% | Rick Snuffer | 76,170 | 35% | ||||||||
| 2006 | Nick Rahall | 92,413 | 69% | Kim Wolfe | 40,820 | 31% | ||||||||
| 2008 | Nick Rahall | 133,522 | 67% | Marty Gearheart | 66,005 | 33% | ||||||||
| 2010 | Nick Rahall | 83,636 | 56% | Spike Maynard | 65,611 | 44% |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ken Hechler |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 4th congressional district 1977–1993 |
District eliminated |
| Preceded by Bob Wise |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 3rd congressional district 1993–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Richard Pombo California |
Chairman of House Natural Resources Committee 2007–2011 |
Succeeded by Doc Hastings Washington |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Dale Kildee D-Michigan |
United States Representatives by seniority 12th |
Succeeded by Jerry Lewis R-California |