Alan B. Mollohan
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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 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 and was ranking Democrat on the Ethics Committee 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.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 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 Democrat from West Virginia, Mollohan was s ...
. He attended Greenbrier Military School and graduated from the College of William & Mary. 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.


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 Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP (commonly referred to simply as Nelson Mullins) is a U.S. law firm and lobby group based in Columbia, South Carolina. Nelson Mullins has over 1000 attorneys, policy advisors, and professionals across 31 offi ...
. He served in the United States Army Reserve 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 ** 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 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. Harley Orrin "Buckey" Staggers Jr. (born February 22, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer from West Virginia. He served five terms as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives. Life and career Staggers was born in Washingto ...
No other party put up a candidate, meaning that the Democratic primary was tantamount to election. 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, 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 Chris Wakim (born December 19, 1957) is a former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates having represented the Third District from 2003 to 2007. He was also the 2008 Republican nominee for the First Senatorial District in West Virginia. ...
in 2006. In that race, Mollohan won 64% of the vote.


Controversies

On February 28, 2006, the
National Legal and Policy Center The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) is a right-wing 501(c)(3) non-profit group that monitors and reports on the ethics of public officials, supporters of liberal causes, and labor unions in the United States. The Center files complaints with ...
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'' 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
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. Howard Berman of California took Mollohan's place. On April 25, 2006, '' The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Mollohan and CEO Dale R. McBride of FMW Composite Systems Inc. of Bridgeport, West Virginia made a joint purchase of a farm along West Virginia's Cheat River. Mollohan had directed a $2.1 million government contract earmarked to FWM Composite Systems to develop lightweight payload pallets for space-shuttle missions.
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
agents have asked questions in Washington and West Virginia about Mollohan’s investments and whether they were properly disclosed, according to the Journal. Mollohan had previously acknowledged he may have made inadvertent mistakes on financial disclosure forms, and in June he filed corrections to his disclosure statements. In January 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that no charges would be filed against Mollohan and that it had closed its investigation. Ben Friedman of the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington told CREW that the Justice Department has "closed the investigation into the case."


Electoral history


References


External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mollohan, Alan 1943 births Military personnel from West Virginia Baptists from West Virginia Greenbrier Military School alumni Living people People from Fairmont, West Virginia College of William & Mary alumni West Virginia lawyers West Virginia University College of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia 21st-century American politicians United States Army reservists