Glen B. Gainer Jr. (July 4, 1927 – September 8, 2009) was an American politician and 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 ...

who served as the 18th State Auditor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1993.

Early life and career

Born in 1927 to Glen. B Gainer Sr. and Nettie Elizabeth (née Smith), Glen B. Gainer Jr. had one brother, Thomas Gainer. He married Sally Jo Padgett in 1955 and they had one daughter, Beth, and two sons, John David and

Glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...

. Gainer graduated from

Parkersburg High School Parkersburg High School (PHS) is a secondary school located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States, that serves grades nine through twelve and is part of the Wood County School District. As of the 2018-2019 West Virginia Secondary School ...

in 1945 and then from

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, an ...

. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and then worked as a school teacher and an athletic coach in Wood County.

Political career

Gainer's first venture into politics came when he served as the mayor of

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 ...

from 1968 to 1970. He was the last Mayor to serve under the city commission form of government. As such, he had to cast tie-breaking votes. In 1976, he ran for State Auditor. He won the Democratic primary with 49%, defeating State Delegate J. Kemp McLaughlin and future State Senator Homer Heck, who took 31% and 20%, respectively. In the general election, he defeated the incumbent State Auditor John M. Gates in a landslide, by 62% to 38%. He became the second member of his family to serve as Auditor - his cousin Denzil Gainer had served as Auditor from 1961 to 1972, when he died in office. Gainer was re-elected against Republican David Walkup in 1980 by an even larger margin, 66% to 34%. In 1982, he ran for

West Virginia's 1st congressional district West Virginia's 1st congressional district is currently located in the northern part of the state. It is the most regularly drawn of the state's three districts. As a result of the state's loss of a seat as a result of the 2020 United States c ...

. Incumbent Democratic Congressman

Bob Mollohan Robert Homer Mollohan (September 18, 1909 – August 3, 1999) was an American politician who served member of the United States House of Representatives from 1953 to 1957 and again from 1969 to 1983. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

was retiring and the seat was open. Mollohan had been grooming his son

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *A ...

to succeed him for years and he won the Democratic primary with 41% of the vote. State Senator Dan R. Tonkovich came second with 36%, Gainer came third with 14%, Barbara Trushel came fourth with 4%, former gubernatorial candidate H. John Rogers came fifth with 2% and Timmy Kearns came last with under 2%. Alan Mollohan went on to win the general election and represented the district until 2011. Gainer ran for a third term as Auditor in 1984 and won easily, defeating Republican William D. Bone by 67% to 33%. In his bid for a fourth term in 1988, Gainer faced a primary challenge from Phillip Lee "Denzil" Gainer (no relation). Gainer defeated him by 68% to 32% and then defeated Republican Nelson B. Robinson Jr. by 65% to 35%. Gainer did not run for re-election in 1992. He was succeeded by his son

Glen Gainer III Glen B. Gainer III (born February 26, 1960) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 19th State Auditor of West Virginia from 1993 until he resigned in 2016. Early life and career Glen B. Gainer III was bor ...

, who held the office from 1993 to 2016.

Death

Gainer died on September 8, 2021. He was predeceased by his brother and his son John David. He is interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Parkersburg.

References

External links

West Virginia State Auditor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gainer Jr., Glen Politicians from Parkersburg, West Virginia Parkersburg High School alumni Marietta College alumni State auditors of West Virginia West Virginia Democrats 1927 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American politicians American educators Military personnel from Parkersburg, West Virginia 20th-century West Virginia politicians