| Shelley Moore Capito | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 2nd district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2001 |
|
| Preceded by | Bob Wise |
| Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Luis Gutiérrez |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Shelley Wellons Moore November 26, 1953 Glen Dale, West Virginia |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Charles L. Capito |
| Residence | Charleston, West Virginia |
| Alma mater | Duke University, University of Virginia |
| Occupation | Career counselor |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Shelley Moore Capito (born Shelley Wellons Moore; November 26, 1953) is the U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district, serving since 2001. She is a member of the Republican Party. She was the only Republican in the West Virginia congressional delegation until the 2010 elections and is the first Republican woman elected to Congress from West Virginia.
The district stretches from the Ohio River in the west to the Eastern Panhandle, which borders with Virginia and Maryland.
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Capito was born in Glen Dale, West Virginia, the daughter of Shelley (née Riley) and Arch Alfred Moore, Jr., who served three terms as that state's Governor (1969–1977; 1985–1989).[1] A resident of Charleston, Capito was educated at Duke University and at the University of Virginia. She is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
Capito served two terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
Capito is a former chairwoman of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues. She is also a founding member of the Congressional Coal Caucus, as well as a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus.
Like her father, Capito's voting record has been moderate/centrist; she has a lifetime rating of 69 from the American Conservative Union. She is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership which supports stem-cell research, Republicans for Choice, and the Wish List (Women In the Senate and House), a group of pro-choice Republican Party (GOP) women. She is the only pro-choice member of West Virginia's House delegation.
Capito is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, she cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act,[2] and supported H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.[3] In 2008, she opposed H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act (a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act while the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling").
When 2nd district Congressman Bob Wise ran for governor in 2000, Capito won the Republican nomination largely because of her father's legacy. She narrowly defeated millionaire asbestos lawyer Jim Humphreys. She was the first Republican to represent West Virginia in Congress since 1983, as well as the first woman elected to Congress from West Virginia in her own right. She was re-elected in 2002 against Humphreys, in 2004 against former newscaster Erik Wells, in 2006 against candidate Mike Callaghan, and in 2008 against former Robert Byrd state director Anne Barth, all by large margins, becoming the first West Virginia Republican to win reelection to Congress since her father, who represented the 1st district in the state's northern region from 1957 to 1969.
Capito was mentioned as a possible challenger to Senator Robert Byrd in 2006, but opted to run for reelection to her House seat.
Capito won against Democratic nominee Anne Barth, a longtime former aide to U.S. Senator Robert Byrd.
Capito defeated her challenger, Democratic nominee Lynch Graf, winning all 18 counties of the district for the first time in her career.
During the 2010 election cycle, she was mentioned as a Republican candidate to challenge Joe Manchin for the vacated United State Senate seat of the late Robert C. Byrd. Capito ultimately decided against a senate bid, pointing out that, even though the West Virginia Legislature passed a law allowing her to run for both her House seat and the U.S. Senate, "running for two offices simultaneously is not who I am as a person. More importantly, this is not about me, but what is right for the people of West Virginia."[4]
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bob Wise |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia's 2nd congressional district 2001–present |
Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Eric Cantor R-Virginia |
United States Representatives by seniority 167th |
Succeeded by William Lacy Clay D-Missouri |