2006 AFSCME & AFL-CIO WV Candidates Win Big!

9 of 11 In Senate, 49 of 59 In House

The 2006 election proved to be very favorable to Labor endorsed candidates in West Virginia and elsewhere.

In the state Senate nine of eleven labor backed candidates won. And in the House, where the pending election of a new Speaker created a lot of attention, 49 of 59 endorsed candidates won. Orphy Klempa, a member of the Carpenters Union and Tal Hutchins both won their bid for a House of Delegates seat in Ohio County. Labor picked up eight new seats in the House increasing the likelihood that a labor endorsed candidate will be selected for the next Speaker of the House.

Current Speaker, Bob Kiss (D-Raleigh), chose not to run for office again. When the December interim meetings are held a new Speaker will be elected. The Speaker decides who will run the committees and has a huge influence on the legislation that will be voted on.

Rumors are also out that Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin will be challenged for his post.

Coal Executive Don Blankenship, CEO of the anti-union Massey Energy Company, had tried to influence most of the House races by waging an expensive and negative campaign against democratic candidates.

Press reports say Blankenship spent more than $2 million for a campaign which included newspaper, radio and television ads, extensive phone poling and post card mailings, and hired door-to-door workers. He also spent thousands in direct contributions to candidates as did many Massey executives and business associates. At the end of the night Blankenship’s efforts proved to be a failure. In fact many believe his efforts helped rather than hurt Labor’s candidates.

On the national scene Senator Robert Byrd, and Congressmen Rahall and Mollohan easily won their bids for re-election. However Mike Callaghan was unable to unseat Congresswoman Shelly Moore Capito. With Democratic control of the U.S. House and Senate West Virginia’s delegation will reclaim top committee positions. Senator Byrd will likely become Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and Senator Rockefeller is the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. Congressman Rahall could chair the powerful House Committee on Resources, and Mollohan will likely be a subcommittee chair of appropriations.

These key positions will help West Virginia get much needed federal support.

For a complete list of endorsed candidates who were successful, click on this link to the WV AFL-CIO website.

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Also see WE DID IT! A Special Message from AFSCME President Gerald McEntee