November 6, 2012
Manchin wins full U.S. Senate term
Capito, Rahall, McKinley re-elected to House
Chip Ellis
U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito addresses her supporters at the Embassy Suites hotel in Charleston, after turning back Democratic challenger Howard Swint and winning her seventh term in Congress.
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"It looks like the middle class has disappeared,'' said Rick Farley, 76.

Raese is chairman of the board of West Virginia Radio Corp. and the MetroNews radio network, and chief executive of steel and limestone producer Greer Industries. Besides the 2010 contest, Raese lost three previous statewide campaigns, including two for the Senate.

Manchin wasn't just campaigning in West Virginia. He endorsed Joe Donnelly, a Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful in Indiana, in a video last month. He taped a similar spot last week for Democrat Bob Kerrey in Nebraska's Senate race. Donnelly won; Kerrey did not.

In the House, Capito won her seventh term representing West Virginia's 2nd District by defeating Democrat challenger Howard Swint on Tuesday. 

Capito has fought against the Environmental Protection Agency, joining with other House Republicans to pass the ill-fated "Stop the War on Coal Act.'' She has accused the agency of working against states.

Swint had argued that voters wanted someone to challenge the coal industry and reject the notion that the EPA is out to kill jobs in West Virginia. 

Rahall won his 19th consecutive term in West Virginia's 3rd District, fighting off a challenge from Republican Rick Snuffer, a state delegate from Raleigh County, to win on Tuesday.

Snuffer, who also lost to Rahall in 2004, tried to portray Rahall as a congressman who hadn't fought hard enough against the Obama administration and federal regulators when it comes to coal policies.    

Rahall has said the coal industry is his No. 1 concern. But he's argued for diversifying the Southern West Virginia economy and retraining laid-off miners for jobs in industries such as oil and gas, timbering, agriculture, tourism, technology and health services. 

McKinley won his second term in the state's 1st District by defeating Democrat Sue Thorn, a former community organizer.

McKinley is a former state GOP chairman who was swept into office on tea party support two years ago.

McKinley has said he wants to make Medicare a block-grant program and give control to the states. Though he doesn't support privatizing Social Security, he supports increasing the eligibility age and allowing people to opt out and withdraw the money they've paid into the system.

He is the first Republican to represent the district since 1969. 

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Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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