MORGANTOWN — Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., will face Democrat Natalie Cline, of Wheeling, in November for the U.S House of Representatives 1st District seat.
With 458 of 557 precincts in the 20 counties reporting, Cline held a substantial lead over Tom Payne, of Keyser, in the Democratic primary on Tuesday.
The vote tally was 37,490 votes for Cline (77%) and 11,270 votes (23%) for Payne. Final totals will be unofficial pending canvassing.
McKinley, also of Wheeling, was unchallenged in the GOP primary.
Locally, in Monongalia County, Cline won 8,358 votes to Payne’s 2,752. In Preston, it was Cline 1,237 and Payne 1,115. In Marion, Cline tallied 4,979 votes to Payne’s 2,163.
Cline said, “I owe our victory to what I would say is showing up.” She’s been doing town halls for 16 months – in person until the pandemic hit and virtually since.
These town halls have resonated, she said. And she’s set up time for individual calls with voters. “What I want to do is be and advocate for Appalachian counties, families, laborers, teachers, health care workers.”
Payne could not be reached for comment.
First elected to the House in 2010, McKinley hasn’t faced a primary challenger since that year, when he topped a field of six candidates. He then defeated then-Democrat Mike Oliverio, 50.4% to 49.6%, to win the seat. Oliverio had toppled longtime incumbent Rep. Alan Mollohan in the primary, 55.91% to 44.09%.
From 2012 on, McKinley enjoyed comparatively wide margins of victory over his Democratic challengers in the general elections: 62.48% to 37.52% in 2012; 63.96% to 36.04% in 2014; 68.97% to 31.03% in 2016; and 64.58% to 35.42% in 2018.
Ramping up for the general election, Cline said she’ll continue her virtual town halls until it’s safe to resume in-person campaigning. She believes she has a better shot than her predecessors because McKinley has aligned himself with President Trump and Trump has not been doing anyone any favors.
“The genuineness of our campaign has really resonated with people,” she said.
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