West Virginia's 2nd congressional district

West Virginia's 2nd congressional district stretches from the Ohio River border with Ohio to the Potomac River border with Maryland and the border with Virginia. It includes the capital city of Charleston and the rapidly growing residential communities of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions connected by a narrow strip of nearly unpopulated counties. It is 20 miles (32 km) wide and 300 miles (480 km) long.

West Virginia's 2nd congressional district
West Virginia's 2nd congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Alex Mooney R–Charles Town
Population (2010)	648,186
Median income	$48,426[1]
Ethnicity	94.4% white 3.6% black 0.5% Asian 0.8% Hispanic 0.2% Native American 0.1% other
Cook PVI	R+17[2]

The district is currently represented by Alex Mooney, a Republican.

West Virginia had four Congressional seats from 1973 to 1993. Previously, much of the western portion of the current 2nd District had been in the 3rd District, based in Charleston. The eastern portion of the district had been in the 2nd District, which had been anchored in Martinsburg and Morgantown for all but a few years since statehood. For all but two years from 1949 to 1993, it was held by the Democratic Staggers family--Harley O. Staggers from 1949 to 1981 and Harley "Buckey" Staggers, Jr. from 1983 to 1993. When West Virginia lost a seat following the 1990 Census, the state legislature divided Staggers's district among the remaining three districts. Much of Staggers's old territory was merged with the 3rd District, represented by five-term Democrat Bob Wise and renumbered the 2nd. However, Staggers's home in Mineral County wound up in the 1st District, where he was routed in the Democratic primary by Alan Mollohan. Wise represented the new district until 2000, when he ran for and won West Virginia's governorship. Following the 2010 Census, Mason County was transferred to the 3rd District, which changed the character of the district only slightly. This change took effect for the 2012 election.[3]

The district is very expensive to campaign in, because six counties on the district's eastern fringe are in the very expensive Washington, D.C. television market. The two main parts, Charleston and the Eastern Panhandle, have very little in common and very little interaction.

The district is slightly more conservative and prosperous than the rest of the state. It also shares West Virginia's tendency to give congressmen long tenures in Washington. The 2000 election that resulted in Capito's victory marked the first open-seat race in the district since 1945. The old 2nd District had only five congressmen from 1933 until its elimination in 1993.

George W. Bush carried the district twice in 2000 with 54% of the vote and in 2004 with 57% of the vote. John McCain also won the district in 2008 with 54.63% of the vote while Barack Obama received 43.77%.

The district contains much of the territory that was represented by longtime Senator Robert Byrd when he served in the House from 1953 to 1959.