Michael Thomas Azinger is an American politician. He is a

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 ...

member of 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 t ...

, representing the 3rd district since January 11, 2017. Prior to this, Azinger represented the 10th District in the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

from 2015 to 2017, succeeding his father, Tom Azinger. Prior to service in the West Virginia legislature, he was a resident of Ohio, where he ran twice for the Sixth Congressional District. In 1998, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination, coming in third behind Lt. Governor

Nancy Hollister Nancy Elizabeth Hollister (née Putnam; born May 22, 1949) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. Hollister was the first and, to date, only female governor of Ohio, serving briefly from December 1998 to January 1999. She attende ...

and former Congressman

Frank Cremeans Frank Arnold Cremeans (April 5, 1943 – January 2, 2003) was an American small-businessman who represented Ohio in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican. He served one term in Congress, from 1995 to 1997. Cremeans was ...

. In 2000, he won the Republican nomination, but failed in his bid to unseat Rep.

Ted Strickland Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the 68th governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ...

, taking only 40% of the vote.

2021 storming of the United States Capitol

Azinger was present at the armed insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Azinger was attending the Stop the Steal rallies, where he claims he saw no evidence of violence. “The people that are responsible for that were Antifa, and there’s evidence of that,” he said, referring to videos that have made that claim. “Trump people don’t destroy property. "That’s not what we do. "They've been burning cities for months now." Continuing he said, “I don’t think Trump people broke into the Capitol.” Both claims have been widely disputed and proven wrong. Over 800 people have been convicted of various crimes. Azinger himself did not enter or walk to the Capitol.

Election results

In 2015, Republican Senator

David Nohe David Clay Nohe (born May 10, 1952) is an American politician and a former Republican member of the West Virginia Senate representing District 3 between 2010 and 2015. Nohe was the mayor of Vienna, West Virginia from 1997 through 2012. Education ...

resigned just one year into his four year term due to family commitments. Delegate

Bob Ashley Robert G. Ashley (born July 4, 1953, Charleston, West Virginia) is an American politician from West Virginia. A Republican, Ashley served in the West Virginia Senate for the 3rd district between 2015 and 2017. He was previously a member of the ...

was appointed to fill the seat until the next regularly scheduled election. Rather than run for the unexpired term, Ashley chose to challenge Senator

Donna Boley Donna Jean Boley (; born December 9, 1935) is a Republican member of the West Virginia Senate representing the 3rd district. West Virginia Governor Arch A. Moore, Jr. appointed Boley on May 14, 1985, to fill a seat made vacant by the resignation ...

for a full term in the Senate. As a result, area businessman Sam Winans and Delegate Azinger ran for the remaining two years on the term. Azinger beat Winans 61-39% to advance to the November general election against Democratic nominee Gregory Smith, former CEO of Mountain State Blue Cross-Blue Shield. Azinger beat Smith 55-45% to win the unexpired term.

References

1965 births Living people Protesters in or near the January 6 United States Capitol attack Politicians from Parkersburg, West Virginia Baptists from West Virginia Republican Party West Virginia state senators Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates 21st-century American politicians People from Vienna, West Virginia Candidates in the 1998 United States elections Candidates in the 2000 United States elections {{WestVirginia-politician-stub