Alan Bowlby Mollohan (born May 14, 1943) is an American politician who served as the
U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
for from 1983 to 2011. He was a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
and the
Blue Dog Coalition
The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative De ...
.
The district encompasses the northern part of the state; it is based in
Wheeling and includes
Parkersburg
Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...
,
Morgantown,
Fairmont and
Clarksburg. He served on the
House Appropriations Committee
The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...
and was ranking Democrat on the
Ethics Committee
An ethics committee is a body responsible for ensuring that medical experimentation and human subject research are carried out in an ethical manner in accordance with national and international law.
Specific regions
An ethics committee in the E ...
until being asked to step down in 2006. He was defeated in the Democratic
primary election
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
held on May 11, 2010, by
Mike Oliverio
Michael Angelo Oliverio II (born August 6, 1963) is a former State Senator for the 13th district and the 2010 Democratic nominee for U.S. Representative for . He previously served in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
Oliverio ran for his ...
.
[Washington Post (2010)]
Alan Mollohan loses primary fight
Retrieved May 11, 2010.
Early life and education
Born in
Fairmont, West Virginia
Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, a ...
, Mollohan is the son of former U.S. Representative
Robert Mollohan. He attended
Greenbrier Military School
The Greenbrier Military School was a boys-only, private, military, boarding high school and Junior College, located in Lewisburg, West Virginia. The school was founded in 1812 and closed in 1972, when the campus was converted into the West Virgin ...
and graduated from the
College of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
. Thereafter, Mollohan completed a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
at
West Virginia University College of Law
The West Virginia University College of Law is the professional school for the study of law at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. The law school was established in 1878 as the first professional school in the s ...
.
Early career
He served as "Of Counsel" for the
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...
branch of the law firm
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.
He served in the
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...
from 1970 to 1983, reaching the rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
.
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
*
Committee on Appropriations
The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...
**
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (Chairman)
**
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
**
Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Political campaigns
When Mollohan's father retired in 1982 after 16 years in Congress spread out over two stints, he endorsed his son as his successor. He was elected that November in a very competitive contest. He faced another close race in 1984, but was unopposed for a third term in 1986. He did not face serious opposition in a general election since, running unopposed in 1992, 1996, 2002 and 2008. In 1998 and 2000, no
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
candidate ran against Mollohan. In both of those years he was opposed by a
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
Richard Kerr, but Mollohan won.
He faced stiff electoral competition when, in 1992, West Virginia lost a House seat due to the 1990 Census. The redistricting placed Mollohan against another representative,
2nd District Congressman
Harley O. Staggers, Jr. No other party put up a candidate, meaning that the Democratic primary was
tantamount to election
A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinati ...
. It was predicted to be a tough primary, but Mollohan succeeded in winning his party's nomination with 60% of the vote.
2010
Mollohan faced a Democratic primary challenge on May 11, 2010, and lost to State senator
Mike Oliverio
Michael Angelo Oliverio II (born August 6, 1963) is a former State Senator for the 13th district and the 2010 Democratic nominee for U.S. Representative for . He previously served in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
Oliverio ran for his ...
, 56% to 44%.
It was Mollohan's first contested primary since he faced
Harley Staggers Jr. in 1992 after their Congressional districts were merged.
Since his first election in 1982 he only faced a total of six Republican challengers, the most recent being former state delegate
Chris Wakim in 2006. In that race, Mollohan won 64% of the vote.
Controversies
On February 28, 2006, the
National Legal and Policy Center filed a 500-page ethics complaint against Mollohan, alleging that the congressman misrepresented his assets on financial disclosure forms. Mollohan's real estate holdings and other assets have increased from $562,000 in 2000 to at least $6.3 million in 2004. For the period 1996 through 2004, NLPC alleged that his Financial Disclosure Reports failed to disclose real estate, corporate and financial assets that public records showed were owned by Mollohan and his wife.
On April 7, 2006, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that Mollohan "has fueled five non-profit groups in his West Virginia district with $250 million in earmark funding."
Mollohan created these nonprofit groups, which include the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, Institute for Scientific Research, Canaan Valley Institute, Vandalia Heritage Foundation, and MountainMade Foundation.
Leaders of these groups were sometimes investors with him, possibly leading to his own personal gain.
On April 21, 2006,
House Minority Leader
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are ele ...
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
announced that Mollohan would temporarily step down as the Ranking Democrat on the
House Ethics Committee
The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
The House Et ...
.
Howard Berman
Howard Lawrence Berman (born April 15, 1941) is an American attorney and retired politician who served as a U.S. representative from California from 1983 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the state's 26th congressional ...
of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
took Mollohan's place.
On April 25, 2006, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that Mollohan and CEO
Dale R. McBride of FMW Composite Systems Inc. of
Bridgeport, West Virginia
Bridgeport is a city in eastern Harrison County, West Virginia, Harrison County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,325 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Clarksburg micropolitan area.
The town of Bridgeport had its beginning i ...
made a joint purchase of a farm along West Virginia's
Cheat River
The Cheat River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the Uni ...
. Mollohan had directed a $2.1 million government contract
earmarked