Nick Rahall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Transportation Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | John Mica |
| Succeeded by | Peter DeFazio |
| Chair of theHouse Natural Resources Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Pombo |
| Succeeded by | Doc Hastings |
| Ranking Member of theHouse Natural Resources Committee | |
| In office January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | George Miller |
| Succeeded by | Don Young |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWest Virginia | |
| In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Ken Hechler |
| Succeeded by | Evan Jenkins |
| Constituency | 4th district (1977–1993) 3rd district (1993–2015) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nicholas Joseph Rahall II (1949-05-20)May 20, 1949 (age 76) Beckley, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Melinda Rahall (second wife) |
| Education | Duke University (BA) George Washington University |
Nicholas Joseph Rahall II (/reɪˈhɑːl/RAY-hall; born May 20, 1949) is an American politician and member of theDemocratic Party who served in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2015. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States House of Representatives from the state ofWest Virginia.
He began his political service in the early 1970s working in the cloak room of the U.S. Senate, as a staff member in the Senate Office of the Majority Whip from 1971–1974, and as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1972 and 1976. He was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976 to represent the now-defunct4th congressional district. He became the representative for the3rd congressional district when reapportionment was completed following the 1990 census. He was re-elected for nineteen terms, serving from January 3, 1977 to January 3, 2015.
His district included the southern, coal-dominated portion of the state,[1] includingHuntington,Bluefield, andBeckley. Rahall was the Ranking Member of theHouse Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Rahall lost re-election in 2014 toEvan Jenkins.[2][3][4] As of 2025[update], he is the last Democrat to have representedWest Virginia in theU.S. House of Representatives.
Rahall was born inBeckley, West Virginia, the son of Mary Alice and Nicholas Joseph Rahall.[5][6] He is aPresbyterian ofLebanese Protestant descent, whose grandparents immigrated from Lebanon.[7][8][9][10]
His family owned radio stationWWNR, which his father started with his uncles Farris, Sam, and Deem, and expanded to own other radio stations in a number of states.[11][12]
Rahall graduated in 1971 fromDuke University. He attended graduate school at theGeorge Washington University, but did not graduate.[5] He then worked as a sales rep for his family's radio station, WWNR.[5][13] He served as president of the Mountaineer Tour and Travel Agency in 1974, and was president of West Virginia Broadcasting.[5][14]
He went to work as staff assistant for the lateU.S. SenatorRobert Byrd who he identifies as a mentor.[15][16]
Rahall was elected to Congress in 1976 in the 4th district, succeedingKen Hechler who ran forgovernor. Rahall won the district primary with a plurality of 38%.[17] Hechler lost the primary for governor, and attempted a write-in campaign for the congressional seat. Rahall won the general election with 46% of the vote, while Hechler got 37%.[18]
In 1978, Hechler challenged Rahall in the Democratic primary, and Rahall won with 56% of the vote.[19] He was re-elected 17 times.[20] Hechler later became theWest Virginia Secretary of State, and ran against Rahall in the primary in 1990. Rahall defeated him, receiving 57% of the vote.[21]
In 1990, Rahall defeated Republican insurance agent Marianne Brewster with just 52% of the vote, the second-lowest winning percentage of his career.[22][23] The district was redrawn after the1990 census, becoming the 3rd district, due to changes to the state's population.
In 2010, he defeated Republican former State Supreme Court JusticeSpike Maynard with 56% of the vote, his lowest percentage since 1990.[24][25]
In the 2012 election, Rahall defeated RepublicanRick Snuffer with 53.5% of the vote.[26] His eight-point margin of victory was his narrowest since 1990.[27]
In 2014, Rahall faced a primary challenge from fellow Democrat and retired Army officerRichard Ojeda.[28] Rahall won the primary with 66.4% of the vote.[29]
He faced Republican State SenatorEvan Jenkins in the November general election.[3] Jenkins had served in the state legislature for 20 years as a Democrat, but had switched parties. Jenkins and Rahall had contributed to each other's campaigns in the decade's previous election cycles.[30]
Rahall was considered one of the most "endangered" House Democrats by the House Democratic campaign committee.[3][4][31] He received an endorsement from the NRA.[32]
As of September 18, 2014, the race was rated a "toss up" by both University of Virginia political professorLarry Sabato, ofSabato's Crystal Ball, andStu Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report.[32] As of October 2, managing editor Kyle Kondik of Sabato's Crystal Ball said the race was still a toss-up, calling it "Super close, super expensive and super nasty."[33][34] The Rahall campaign outspent the Jenkins campaign in the election by a two-to-one ratio.[35]
Ultimately, Rahall was defeated, with 44.7% of the vote to Jenkins' 55.3% of the vote. In the process, he lost a number of areas that had reliably supported him for years.[2][36][37]
Having served 19 terms in the House, the 65-year-old Rahall qualified for aCongressional pension of about $139,000 a year.[38]
Rahall was a member of the conservativeBlue Dog Democrat coalition.
In 2010 Rahall introduced legislation to improve mine safety.[39] Rahall opposed legislation designed to endmountaintop removal mining, a process often used in West Virginia.[40]
Rahall's policies involving mountaintop removal mining have been criticized as reflected by author and journalistJeff Biggers in "The Blog" inThe Huffington Post, with the link between mountaintop removal mining and flooding, as well as the billions of pounds of explosives used since 2004, being given as examples.[41]
Rahall accepts anthropogenicclimate change as real and has stated that to reject thescientific consensus regarding it is "to just put your head in the sand."[42]
Rahall called theEnvironmental Protection Agency "callous", attackedBarack Obama's greenhouse gas rule as "disastrous", and filed legislation to block the president's climate agenda, but in the summer of 2013 he attended a ceremony to rename the EPA headquarters and has praised EPA AdministratorGina McCarthy.[15] Rahall, alongside three other Democrats, supported a GOP bill that would limit EPA authority on CO2 emissions, theEnergy Tax Prevention Act. He commented on this, saying: "I am dead set against the E.P.A.'s plowing ahead on its own with new regulations to limit greenhouse gases."[43] He also voted against theAmerican Clean Energy and Security Act.
In 2007, Rahall introduced theEnergy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which bannedincandescent light bulbs. Despite introducing the legislation, Rahall voted against the bill on final passage. As a result of the legislation, as of January 1, 2014, incandescent light bulbs between 40 watts and 150 watts are illegal to manufacture or import.[citation needed]
In 2013, Rahall voted for theProgressive Caucus's budget, which included provisions for a carbon tax. The budget failed to pass.[44][45]
Rahall and another Congressman of Arab descent traveled to Syria and ignoredState Department policy by meeting with Palestinian leaderYasser Arafat, whom Rahall had known for years.[5]Queen Noor of Jordan presented Rahall with the first Najeeb Halaby Award for public service.[5]
Rahall opposed the2003 invasion of Iraq. Rahall had traveled to Baghdad just before the Iraq War with the intention of convincing Iraqi leaders to allow the U.N. to inspect Iraq's weapons and have access to every site. He said thatTariq Aziz had accepted all of Bush's demands, and that "Bush said the war was not inevitable, but we now know that wasn't true. Iraqis did allow for complete access but Bush's mind was already made up. Iraqis were damned if they did and damned if they didn't .... We were falsely led into this war."[46]
In 2004, it was reported that Rahall feared that Syria would be attacked by Bush before the November elections. He said that "They're using the same rhetoric against the Syrians they used against Iraqis.... We now have the Syrian Accountability Act. All this despite the State Department's admission that Syria helped us capture key al-Qaeda operatives and helped save American lives." As for Saudi Arabia, Rahall said that the U.S. "wouldn't dare" attack that country: "The Kingdom has been a key ally for decades."[46]
Rahall has expressed concern about America's relationship with Israel. He said, "Israel can't continue to occupy, humiliate and destroy the dreams and spirits of the Palestinian people and continue to call itself a democratic state."[46]
Rahall, along with other Lebanese-American lawmakers, expressed concern with a bipartisan resolution supportingIsrael in the2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict without adding language urging restraint against civilian targets. He helped draft a resolution that urged "all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure."[47]
Rahall was the only member of the House to oppose the 1993 resolution urging Arab states to end theirboycott of Israel.[48][49]
Rahall was the most senior of fiveArab American lawmakers on Capitol Hill.[48][50]
In 2008, Rahall endorsedBarack Obama, saying Obama understood the needs and aspirations of West Virginians. He was also Chair of the Arab Americans for Obama group.[51] Explaining his position, Rahall cited Senator Byrd, who said "I work for no President. I work with Presidents."[52] In an interview withKeith Olbermann, Rahall said that Obama had the courage and conviction to win the presidency, and that the then-senator was a true agent for change.[53]
In 2004, theLos Angeles Times ran an article about Rahall and his sister, lobbyist Tanya Rahall. They reported that she made $15,000 per month as alobbyist forQatar, and that "the person she frequently lobbies is ... her older brother and one of Qatar's biggest champions in Washington." Rahall said "our paths cross professionally, but not across any lines appropriately established by law or House rules."[48] In May 2003, a year after his sister took on Qatar as a client, Rahall sponsored a resolution praising Qatar's "years of democratic reform"; according to one academic study from 2011, "For over three years, the country [Qatar] virtually had its own congressman in Washington, Nick Rahall (D-WV)".[54]
In February 2005, Rahall used Congressional stationery to write a letter to aFairfax County judge, David Stitt, asking for leniency for his son, Nick Rahall III, who was facingfelony robbery charges. According to the House ethics manual: "Official stationery ... may be used only for official purposes." Rahall acknowledged that he should not have used Congressional stationery for his letter, but said it was not the same type that he uses for official or committee business. Rahall added he may have drawn the wrong paper "[i]n the emotions", and that he would reimburse the Treasury Department for the cost of the paper.[55][56][57] TheUnited States House Committee on Ethics did not launch an inquiry into the incident.[58]
Rahall was one of seven Democrats and twelve Republicans listed byCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in its annual "Most Corrupt Members of Congress Report" in 2011.[59][60]Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, said: "Rep. Rahall abused his position to help his son and sister in clear violation of the House ethics rules." Rahall's spokeswoman said: "There is as little merit to these allegations today as there was then."[59]
| Year | Democrat | Votes | % | Republican | Votes | % | Third Party | Party | Votes | % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Nick Rahall | 73,626 | 46% | E. S. Goodman | 28,825 | 18% | Ken Hechler | Democratic (write-in) | 59,067 | 37% | ||||
| 1978 | Nick Rahall | 70,035 | 100% | No candidate | ||||||||||
| 1980 | Nick Rahall | 117,595 | 77% | Winton Covey | 36,020 | 23% | ||||||||
| 1982 | Nick Rahall | 91,184 | 81% | Homer Harris | 22,054 | 19% | ||||||||
| 1984 | Nick Rahall | 98,919 | 67% | Jess Shumate | 49,474 | 33% | ||||||||
| 1986 | Nick Rahall | 58,217 | 71% | Martin Miller | 23,490 | 29% | ||||||||
| 1988 | Nick Rahall | 78,812 | 61% | Marianne Brewster | 49,753 | 39% | ||||||||
| 1990 | Nick Rahall | 39,948 | 52% | David Morrill | 36,946 | 48% |
| Year | Democrat | Votes | % | Republican | Votes | % | Third Party | Party | Votes | % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Nick Rahall | 122,279 | 66% | Ben Waldman | 64,012 | 34% | ||||||||
| 1994 | Nick Rahall | 74,967 | 64% | Ben Waldman | 42,382 | 36% | ||||||||
| 1996 | Nick Rahall | 145,550 | 100% | No candidate | ||||||||||
| 1998 | Nick Rahall | 78,814 | 87% | No candidate | Joe Whelan | Libertarian | 12,196 | 13% | ||||||
| 2000 | Nick Rahall | 146,807 | 91% | No candidate | Jeff Robinson | Libertarian | 13,979 | 9% | ||||||
| 2002 | Nick Rahall | 87,783 | 70% | Paul Chapman | 37,229 | 30% | ||||||||
| 2004 | Nick Rahall | 142,682 | 65% | Rick Snuffer | 76,170 | 35% | ||||||||
| 2006 | Nick Rahall | 92,413 | 69% | Kim Wolfe | 40,820 | 31% | ||||||||
| 2008 | Nick Rahall | 133,522 | 67% | Marty Gearheart | 66,005 | 33% | ||||||||
| 2010 | Nick Rahall | 83,636 | 56% | Spike Maynard | 65,611 | 44% | ||||||||
| 2012 | Nick Rahall | 108,199 | 54% | Rick Snuffer | 92,238 | 46% | ||||||||
| 2014 | Nick Rahall | 62,309 | 45% | Evan Jenkins | 77,170 | 55% |
Rahall and his second wife, Melinda Ross of Ashland, Kentucky, married in 2004.[64] They have three children from his previous marriage, and three grandchildren.[5][65][66]
In 2008, Rahall appeared on an episode ofDiners, Drive-Ins and Dives which featured Hillbilly Hot Dogs ofLesage, West Virginia. Rahall introduced the hot dog that's named after him on the menu, Rahall's Red Hot Weenie.[67]
In July 2009, Rahall jumped out of a plane to show his support for the coal industry. The event was intended to show the importance of the coal industry to both West Virginia and the United States as a whole. The act confused some, who questioned the reasoning behind the jump. It was noted that Rahall is involved with coal lobbyists and also receives contributions from the airline industry.[68][69]
After leaving office, he became involved in political reform efforts, including joining nine other former members of Congress to co-author a 2021 opinion editorial advocating reforms of Congress.[70]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWest Virginia's 4th congressional district 1977–1993 | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWest Virginia's 3rd congressional district 1993–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Natural Resources Committee 2001–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Natural Resources Committee 2007–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Ranking Member of theHouse Transportation Committee 2011–2015 | Succeeded by |
| 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 |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
