CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Maloney's remark Tuesday that West Virginia politicians "just pull our pants down to get a cracker" has sparked criticism from state Democrats. 

Pam Van Horn, executive director of the West Virginia Democratic Legislative Council, said Maloney's comment about Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's tax incentive bill to lure an ethane "cracker" petrochemical facility to West Virginia was "inappropriate" and "un-gubernatorial."

"It was a very poor choice of words on his part," said Van Horn, whose organization serves as the campaign committee for Democrats in the state Legislature. "It was clearly inappropriate."

On Metro News Talkline Tuesday, Maloney criticized Tomblin and West Virginia lawmakers for backing legislation designed to persuade a company to build a multibillion-dollar cracker plant in the state.

"If we'd fix our courts and our tort reform issues, we'd stand a lot better chance of getting a cracker than we would be in passing this huge bill that we just pull our pants down to get a cracker, when everybody should be getting the same tax breaks," Maloney said on the statewide radio show.

Seth Wimer, Maloney's campaign manager, said it was just "silliness" that anyone would make an issue about Maloney's "pull down our pants" remark.

Wimer declined to comment on exactly what Maloney was trying to say.

It seems the Republican candidate for governor was alleging that Tomblin and state lawmakers gave up too much in their tax incentive plan to bring a cracker plant to the state. The measure, which Tomblin signed into law in late January, would slash a cracker plant's property taxes for 25 years.

"[Maloney] was saying we shouldn't be giving special favors to bring in a cracker when we should have a level playing field for everybody and make businesses want to come here," Wimer said Tuesday. 

Houston-based Shell and a Brazilian company plan to build a cracker plant in the region. Such facilities convert or crack the molecules in a byproduct from Marcellus Shale natural gas into a widely used chemical compound. State officials say such a facility would hire 200 or more full-time workers and generate hundreds of additional spin-off jobs.

"This was significant legislation that makes West Virginia competitive for a cracker," Van Horn said. "It's going to bring good-paying jobs. We've put ourselves in the best possible position we possibly can be in."

During Tuesday's radio interview, Maloney alleged that Tomblin didn't introduce a single bill to create jobs in West Virginia during the past legislative session, which ended Saturday night. Maloney said the state lost 2,000 jobs during the 60-day session. He said the governor should be doing more to help small businesses -- not giant out-of-state corporations.

Van Horn took issue with Maloney's tone throughout the interview.

"He was flippant and disrespectful," she said. "He just flies off the cuff without measuring his words. He doesn't seem to understand just how important a cracker would be."

Ohio and Pennsylvania also have offered millions of dollars in tax incentives to companies that plan to build cracker plants in the region.

Tomblin's bill passed unanimously in the Senate. Delegate Jonathan Miller, R-Berkeley, was the only House member to vote against the legislation.  

"Everybody provides incentives for economic development," said Tomblin campaign spokesman Chris Stadelman. "It's unfortunate that Bill Maloney does not support tax incentives that would bring hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment to West Virginia."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4869.