Richard Ray Snuffer (born July 31, 1961, in Beckley, West Virginia) serves 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 ...

since 2010.

Early life, education, and business career

Snuffer was born in 1961 in

Beckley, West Virginia Beckley is a city in and the county seat of Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. It was founded on April 4, 1838. This city is the home of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology or West Virginia University, Beckley Campus. ...

. He graduated the World of Faith Leadership and Bible Institute in 1985. He also attended

Bluefield State University Bluefield State University (Bluefield State) is a university in Bluefield, West Virginia that is an historically black university. It is a part of West Virginia's public education system and converted to a university in the summer of 2022. It a ...

and is currently obtaining his master's degree from

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

. He has been Vice President of WESCO Homes Inc. from 1971 to 2004. He also worked for

Combined Insurance Combined Insurance is a global provider of supplemental insurance, including accident insurance, life insurance and critical care coverage. Combined Insurance operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific. The company is headqu ...

in 1979 and

Metropolitan Life MetLife, Inc. is the Holding company, holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, Annuity (US financial produc ...

in 1982.

West Virginia legislature

2010 election

He ran for West Virginia's 27th House District. He was one of five candidates who won that seat, obtaining 13% of the vote in second place. The others were incumbent State Delegate Linda Sumner (14%), State Delegate Ricky Moye (12%), John David O'Neal (12%), and Virginia Mahan (9%).

Committee assignments

*Energy, Industry and Labor/Economic Development and Small Business *Government Organization *Roads and Transportation *Senior Citizen Issues

Campaigns for higher office

2004 congressional election

In 2003, he decided to challenge incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman

Nick Rahall Nicholas Joseph Rahall II (born May 20, 1949) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2015. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States Hou ...

West Virginia's 3rd congressional district West Virginia's 3rd congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in southern West Virginia. The district covers the state's second-largest city, Huntington; includes Bluefield, Princeton, and Beckley; and has a long history of coa ...

. In the Republican primary, he defeated Marty Gearheart 58%-42%. In the general election, Rahall defeated Snuffer 65%-35%, a thirty-point margin. Rahall, first elected in 1976, fared worse in only five other elections. Snuffer won just one county,

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

, his home county by two points.

2006 U.S. Senate election

Snuffer then decided to challenge incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator

Robert C. 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 ...

. He lost the Republican primary, ranking third out of six candidates with just 6% of the vote. He won just one county, Raleigh, with 48%. Businessman

John Raese John Reeves Raese ( ; born April 10, 1950) is an American businessman and perennial Republican Party candidate for political office in West Virginia. He has lost campaigns to represent West Virginia in the United States Senate in 1984, 2006, 20 ...

won with 58% of the vote.

2012 congressional election

Snuffer decided to challenge Rahall again in 2012. He won the Republican primary with 54% of the vote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snuffer, Rick 1961 births Living people Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Beckley, West Virginia Bluefield State College alumni Marshall University alumni Mountain State University alumni Businesspeople from Beckley, West Virginia