Alan Mollohan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWest Virginia's1st district | |
| In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Mollohan |
| Succeeded by | David McKinley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alan Bowlby Mollohan (1943-05-14)May 14, 1943 (age 82) Fairmont, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Barbara Whiting |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | Bob Mollohan (father) |
| Education | College of William and Mary (BA) West Virginia University (JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1970–1983 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | United States Army Reserve |
Mollohan discusses FY2008 appropriations for the Commerce, Justice, and Science departments. Recorded July 25, 2007 | |
Alan Bowlby Mollohan (born May 14, 1943) is an American politician who served as theU.S. representative forWest Virginia's 1st congressional district from 1983 to 2011. He was a member of theDemocratic Party and theBlue Dog Coalition.
The district encompasses the northern part of the state; it is based inWheeling and includesParkersburg,Morgantown,Fairmont andClarksburg. He served on theHouse Appropriations Committee and was ranking Democrat on theEthics Committee until being asked to step down in 2006. He was defeated in the Democraticprimary election held on May 11, 2010, byMike Oliverio.[1]
Born inFairmont, West Virginia, Mollohan is the son of former U.S. RepresentativeRobert Mollohan. He attendedGreenbrier Military School and graduated from theCollege of William & Mary. Thereafter, Mollohan completed aJuris Doctor atWest Virginia University College of Law.
He served as "Of Counsel" for theHuntington, West Virginia branch of the law firmNelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.[2]
He served in theUnited States Army Reserve from 1970 to 1983, reaching the rank ofcaptain.[3]
When Mollohan's father retired in 1982 after 18 years in Congress spread out over two stints, his son won a very competitive contest to succeed him. 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 again. Indeed, theRepublicans only put up a candidate against him four other times, in 1988, 1990, 1994 and 2006. He ran unopposed in 1992, 1996, 2002 and 2008 and only facedLibertarian Richard Kerr in 1998 and 2000.
He faced stiff electoral competition when, in 1992, West Virginia lost a House seat due to the 1990 Census. The redistricting placed Mollohan against2nd District CongressmanBuckey Staggers. No other party put up a candidate, meaning that the Democratic primary wastantamount to election. It was predicted to be a tough primary even though the new district was more Mollohan's district than Staggers', but Mollohan succeeded in winning his party's nomination with 60% of the vote.[4]
Mollohan faced a Democratic primary challenge on May 11, 2010, and lost to State senatorMike Oliverio, 56% to 44%.[1] It was Mollohan's first contested primary since he facedHarley Staggers Jr. in 1992 after their Congressional districts were merged.[5]
Since his first election in 1982 he only faced a total of six Republican challengers, the most recent being former state delegateChris Wakim in 2006. In that race, Mollohan won 64% of the vote.[6]
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On February 28, 2006, theNational Legal and Policy Center 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.[7][8]
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."[9][10] 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.[11] Leaders of these groups were sometimes investors with him, possibly leading to his own personal gain.[12]
On April 21, 2006,House Minority LeaderNancy Pelosi announced that Mollohan would temporarily step down as the Ranking Democrat on theHouse Ethics Committee.Howard Berman ofCalifornia 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. ofBridgeport, West Virginia made a joint purchase of a 300-acre (1.2 km2) farm along West Virginia'sCheat River. Mollohan had directed a $2.1 million government contractearmarked to FWM Composite Systems to develop lightweight payload pallets for space-shuttle missions.Federal Bureau of Investigation 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.[13] Ben Friedman of the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington told CREW that the Justice Department has "closed the investigation into the case."[14][15]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mike Oliverio | 36,135 | 55.91% | |
| Democratic | Alan Mollohan (incumbent) | 28,500 | 44.09% | |
| Total votes | 64,635 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alan Mollohan | 187,734 | 99.9 | |
| Write-In | Ted Osgood | 69 | 0.0 | |
| Write-In | R.J. Smith | 61 | 0.0 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alan Mollohan | 100,939 | 64.3 | |
| Republican | Chris Wakim | 55,963 | 35.6 | |
| Write-In | Bennie Kyle | 29 | 0.0 | |
| Write-In | David Moran | 69 | 0.0 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alan Mollohan | 166,583 | 67.8 | |
| Republican | Alan Parks | 79,196 | 32.2 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alan Mollohan | 110,941 | 99.7 | |
| Write-In | Louis Davis | 320 | 0.3 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Alan Mollohan | 170,974 | 87.8 | |
| Libertarian | Richard Kerr | 23,797 | 12.2 | |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWest Virginia's 1st congressional district 1983–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Ethics Committee 2003–2006 | Succeeded by Howard Berman |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
