Harley Orrin "Buckey" Staggers Jr. (born February 22, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer from

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. He served five terms as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Life and career

Staggers was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

His father, Harley Staggers Sr., was a Democratic Congressman from

from 1949 until 1981, when he declined to run for a seventeenth term. Staggers, Jr. graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and the

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 ...

. He served as an assistant West Virginia Attorney General before serving one term in the

West Virginia Senate The West Virginia Senate is the upper house of the West Virginia Legislature. There are seventeen senatorial districts. Each district has two senators who serve staggered four-year terms. Although the Democratic Party held a supermajority in the ...

. After

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 ...

successor,

Cleve Benedict Cleveland Keith Benedict (born March 21, 1935) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served one term in the United States House of Representatives for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district from 1981 to 1983. Lif ...

, gave up his seat after one term to run against

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

, Harley Staggers Jr. ran for the seat and won. He was reelected four more times, defeating

Oliver Luck Oliver Francis Luck (born April 5, 1960) is an American business executive and former football quarterback. He is currently the executive director of the ASUN–WAC Football Conference (tentative name), a new NCAA Division I FCS conference starti ...

in his fourth re-election. Harley Staggers Jr. lost his seat after West Virginia lost one congressional seat following the 1990 Census. Most of his former 2nd District's territory was merged with the

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

-based 3rd District of fellow Democrat

Bob Wise Robert Ellsworth Wise Jr. (born January 6, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 33rd Governor of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, Wise also served in the United States House of Representatives from ...

to form a new . However, his home in Mineral County was drawn into the , represented by fellow Democrat

Alan Mollohan Alan Bowlby Mollohan (born May 14, 1943) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1983 to 2011. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the Blue Dog Coalition. The district encompasses the northern part of th ...

. Staggers opted to challenge Mollohan in the Democratic primary and was defeated. Staggers currently practices law in

Keyser, West Virginia Keyser () is a city in and the county seat of Mineral County, West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,853 at the 2020 census. History Keyser, the county seat of Mineral County, is ...

Personal life

He married Leslie R. SergyStaggers Family
/ref> in 1986.1991-1992 Official Congressional Directory: 102d Congress
/ref> They have three children. His son Harley O. Staggers III is also a lawyer.Harley's LinkedIn Profile
/ref>

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Staggers, Harley Orrin Jr. 1951 births Harvard University alumni Living people People from Keyser, West Virginia People from Washington, D.C. Potomac State College alumni Staggers family of West Virginia West Virginia lawyers Democratic Party West Virginia state senators West Virginia University College of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia