Alex Mooney

Alex Mooney
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from West Virginia's 2nd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded by Shelley Moore Capito
Member of the Maryland Senate
from the 3rd district
In office
January 13, 1999 – January 12, 2011
Preceded by John W. Derr
Succeeded by Ronald N. Young
Personal details
Born Alexander Xavier Mooney
(1971-06-07) June 7, 1971
Washington, D.C., United States
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Grace Mooney
Children 3
Residence Charles Town, West Virginia
(2013–present)
Frederick, Maryland
(1999–2013)
Alma mater Dartmouth College
Website House website

Alexander Xavier Mooney (born June 7, 1971) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. He served in the Maryland State Senate, representing District 3, from 1999 to 2011 and is a former Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party. He is the first Hispanic elected to Congress from West Virginia.[1]

Early life, education, and early career

Mooney's mother, Lala, was a Cuban refugee who escaped from political imprisonment at the age of 21, shortly after the Bay of Pigs Invasion.[2] From a family of Irish immigrants, his father Vincent grew up in Long Island, New York. Mooney was born in 1971 in Washington D.C. and raised in Frederick, Maryland. He graduated from Frederick High School, where he was elected as president of the student government.[2]

In 1993, Mooney received his B.A. in philosophy from Dartmouth College. While attending Dartmouth, he ran for the New Hampshire House of Representatives in Grafton County's 10th District. He finished in last place with 8% of the vote.[3] In 2007, Mooney was elected to the Executive Committee of the Dartmouth College Association of Alumni.[4] In early 2008, Mooney traveled to New Hampshire to testify in support of a state bill that would require legislative approval for amendments that the private Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College wished to make to its charter.[5]

After college, Mooney served as staff assistant to U.S. Representative Roscoe G. Bartlett. In 1995 he became a legislative analyst for the Republican Conference of the U.S. House of Representatives.[6]

Maryland Senate

Mooney represented Maryland's District 3rd, which covers parts of Washington and Frederick Counties, in the Maryland Senate, from January 1999 to January 2011. While in office, he served as the executive director of the National Journalism Center from 2005 to 2012.

Elections

In 1998, Mooney defeated incumbent Republican John W. Derr in the primary election and Democrat Ronald S. Bird in the general election.[7] In 2002, Mooney was re-elected, defeating Democrat Sue Hecht, with 55% of the vote.[8] In 2006, he won re-election with 52% of the vote against Candy Greenway.[9] In 2010, Democrat Ronald N. Young, Mayor of Frederick, defeated him 51%–49%.[10][11]

Tenure

In 2000, Mooney received the Maryland Taxpayer of the Year award. In 2003 he received the National Hero of the Taxpayer Award. He also received the top business rating in the state from the organization Maryland Business for Responsive Government.

Committee assignments

In the Maryland State Senate, Mooney was a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, the Joint Committee on Investigation, and formerly a member of the Joint Committee on Federal Relations, and the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. He served on the Maryland Rural Caucus, the Taxpayers Protection Caucus, and the Maryland Veterans Caucus.

Post-Senate career

Mooney in 2008

Chairman of the Maryland GOP

On December 11, 2010, Mooney was elected as Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party. He was Chairman until early 2013.

2012 congressional election

The redistricting done by the Maryland legislature, based on the 2010 census, significantly redrew the boundaries of incumbent Roscoe G. Bartlett's 6th District. Heavily Republican Carroll County, as well as more Republican portions of Baltimore, Frederick and Harford counties, were shifted out of the district, replaced by a heavily Democratic spur of Montgomery County.[12] In 2008, Barack Obama only took 40 percent of the vote in the old 6th, but would have won 56 percent in the new 6th.[13] After creating an exploratory committee to challenge Bartlett in the Republican primary,[14] Mooney decided not to run against him.[15]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2014

In March 2012, Mooney filed as a candidate in the 2014 Republican primary for Maryland's 6th congressional District. He subsequently had to withdraw his candidacy because he was still Bartlett's part-time outreach director at the time he filed papers to run. House ethics rules do not allow congressional staffers to remain employed in a congressional office while campaigning.[16][17]

Mooney subsequently moved to Charles Town, West Virginia, a small town on the state's eastern tip, and declared his candidacy for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district.[18] The district includes most of the West Virginia portion of the Washington, DC, media market. Seven-term Republican incumbent Shelley Moore Capito was giving up the seat to run for the United States Senate.[19] During his campaign, some West Virginia Democrats accused Mooney of being a "carpetbagger" since he had recently moved to West Virginia.[20]

Mooney received the Republican Party nomination on May 13, 2012, beating six other opponents in the Republican primary. Mooney finished first in 15 of the 17 counties in the congressional district, with an overall total of 36.02 percent of the vote.[21]

Mooney faced Democrat Nick Casey in the 2014 general election.[22] On November 4, 2014, he defeated Casey, 49 percent to 47 percent. He won Berkeley County, in the state's Eastern Panhandle, by 5,000 votes, which was more than his overall margin of 4,900 votes. Berkeley, like Charles Town, is part of the Washington media market.[23]

Mooney became the first Latino elected to West Virginia's congressional delegation in the state's history.[1]

2016

Mooney ran for re-election in 2016.[24] He defeated Marc Savitt in the May 10, 2016, Republican primary, receiving 72.9% of the vote to Savitt's 27.1%.[25] Mooney faced Democratic state delegate Mark Hunt in the general election. Mooney defeated Hunt with 58% of the vote.[26][27]

Tenure

Mooney was sworn in on January 6, 2015. On March 26, 2015, Congressman Mooney introduced H.R. 1644, the Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act (STREAM Act). The full House passed the bill on January 19, 2016, by a vote of 235-188.

Committee assignments

United States House Financial Services Committee

Personal

Mooney is a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Electoral history

Name Votes Percent Outcome
Ronald N. Young, Dem. 22,710 51.1% Won
Alex X. Mooney, Rep. 21,666 48.7% Lost
Other Write-Ins 75 0.2% Lost
Name Votes Percent Outcome
Alex X. Mooney, Rep. 21,844 51.9% Won
Candy O. Greenway, Dem. 20,111 47.8% Lost
Other Write-Ins 104 0.2% Lost
Name Votes Percent Outcome
Alex X. Mooney, Rep. 21,617 55.0% Won
C. Sue Hecht, Dem. 17,654 44.9% Lost
Other Write-Ins 66 0.2% Lost
Name Votes Percent Outcome
Alex X. Mooney, Rep. 18,399 56% Won
Ronald S. Bird, Dem. 14,212 44% Lost

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "West Virginia, the nation's least Hispanic state, elects its first Latino congressman". FOX News Latino. New York City, New York. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Welcome to AlexMooney.com
  3. ↑ "Ourcampaigns.com". Ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Dartmouth Alumni". Trustees of Dartmouth College.
  5. ↑ John Gregg (2008-01-22). "College Charter Bill Advances". The Valley News.
  6. ↑ Stephanie Desmon (2002-10-21). "Frederick Senate race has harsh tone; 'Dirty' maneuvering marks contentious contest between Hecht, Mooney". The Baltimore Sun.
  7. ↑ "Gubernatorial Primary – September 15, 1998". Washington County Board of Elections. 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  8. 1 2 "2002 Gubernatorial General – Official Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Official 2006 Gubernatorial General Election results for State Senator". Maryland State Board of Elections. 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  10. ↑ "2010 General Election Official Results". Maryland Local Board of Elections. 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Ourcampaigns.com". Ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Republicans Outnumber Dems Running for GOP Rep's Maryland Seat". Fox News. November 11, 2011.
  13. ↑ Ford, C. Benjamin (November 18, 2011). "GOP candidates lining up to take on Bartlett". Gazette.Net. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  14. ↑ Pershing, Ben (December 1, 2011). "State GOP chair Alex Mooney to challenge Roscoe Bartlett in primary". The Washington Post.
  15. ↑ Pershing, Ben (January 10, 2012). "State GOP Chair Alex Mooney won’t challenge Bartlett in primary". The Washington Post.
  16. ↑ Pershing, Ben (September 20, 2012). "Bartlett aide, state GOP head Alex Mooney drops candidacy to comply with ethics rules". The Washington Post.
  17. ↑ Kilar, Steve (September 22, 2012). "Bartlett aide admits he erred by not disavowing his own candidacy". The Baltimore Sun.
  18. ↑ Ford, C. Benjamin (March 19, 2013). "Mooney’s West Virginia move surprises Maryland GOP". Gazette.Net. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  19. ↑ Messina, Lawrence (14 July 2013). "2014 field growing in W.Va. federal races". Sunday Gazette-Mail.
  20. ↑ Livington, Abby (10 July 2014). "At the Races – Roll Call's Politics Blog West Virginia Newcomer Battles Carpetbagger Label". Roll Call. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  21. ↑ "Statewide Results: Primary Election – May 13, 2014". West Virginia Secretary of State. 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  22. ↑ Walshe, Shushannah (May 13, 2014). "Tea Party’s Alex Mooney Wins West Virginia GOP House Primary". ABC News. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  23. ↑ Vergaris, Brock (November 4, 2014). "GOP's Mooney wins W.Va. 2nd congressional seat". The Journal. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Mooney faces 2nd District GOP challenger; 5 Dems square off". The Tampa Tribune. April 23, 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  25. ↑ "NYT West Virginia Primary Results". NYtimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  26. ↑ "West Virginia U.S. House 2nd District Results: Alex Mooney Wins". The New York Times. November 16, 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  27. ↑ "West Virginia Statewide Results General Election – November 8, 2016 Official Results". West Virginia Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  28. ↑ "State Senate Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  29. ↑ "State Senate Results". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
Maryland Senate
Preceded by
John W. Derr		 Member of the Maryland Senate
from the 3rd district
1999–2011 		Succeeded by
Ronald N. Young
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Shelley Moore Capito		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from West Virginia's 2nd congressional district
2015–present 		Incumbent
Current U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
John Moolenaar
R-Michigan		 United States Representatives by seniority
355th 		Succeeded by
Seth Moulton
D-Massachusetts
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