Politics 2010: 2 incumbents caught up in hard races

The road back to Washington won't be an easy one for two long-time West Virginia congressmen if they make it past the Democratic Primary Tuesday.

In West Virginia's 1st congressional district, 14-term Rep. Alan Mollohan faces a tough primary challenge from state Sen. Mike Oliverio, who says a poll he commissioned in April shows him leading the incumbent 41 percent to 33 percent with 26 percent undecided.

Oliverio's camp says it isn't surprised by the results of the poll, with campaign manager Curtis Wilkerson telling CQ Politics, "We think that they see the same thing we do, otherwise they wouldn't be attacking us."

Pam Van Horn, Mollohan's campaign manager, said she found Oliverio's poll "extraordinarily hard to believe ... based upon our internal numbers."

Both sides have talked trash. In the last few weeks before the primary, Oliverio has questioned Mollohan's ethical conduct while Mollohan tied Oliverio to a conservative-leaning organization of state legislators.

The Republican primary in the district having a historically GOP bent, is a little more crowded, with two former state lawmakers -- David McKinley and Sarah Minear -- along with businesswoman Cindy Hall, party activist Patricia VanGilder Levenson, furnituremaker and military veteran Tom Stark, businessman Daniel Swisher, and attorney and Army veteran Mac Warner.

In the third district, Rep. Nick Rahall wants to return to Washington for an 18th consecutive term.

Challenging him in the Democratic primary is Bruce Barilla of Bluefield, who said he opposes several initiatives Rahall has supported, including the recently approved healthcare bill.

Four candidates are vying for the 2010 Republican primary: Nurse anesthetist Lee Bias, county GOP executive committee member Marty Gearheart, former staff member for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Conrad G. Lucas II and former State Supreme Court Justice Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard will be on the Republican ballot.

After the first fundraising quarter of 2010, Rahall is among at least eight Southern Democrats with more than 10 times as much cash on hand as their closest Republican rivals, Real Clear Politics reported recently. Rahall began April with a $1.5 million balance, raised $215,000 during the three-month reporting period and spent $74,000 during that time.

Followers of Massey Energy, owner of the Raleigh County mine where 29 miners died in an explosion April 5, may want to track Maynard's showing, Mother Jones reported. Maynard was photographed vacationing with Massey Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship on the French Riviera while Massey was appealing a $50 million case to his court.

Moore Capito, the first female Republican elected to Congress in West Virginia, doesn't face any primary opposition. Neither do Virginia Elementary school principal and activist Lynch Graf in the Democratic primary nor teacher and business owner Phil Hudok running as a Constitution Party candidate.