Riley Moore, Carol Miller win GOP nominations for West Virginia's two congressional seats

May 14—MORGANTOWN — State Treasurer Riley Moore topped four Republican rivals to win the nomination for West Virginia's 2nd District Congressional seat. He will face Democrat Steven Wendelin in November.

In the south, Rep. Carol Miller handily defeated challenger Derrick Evans for the GOP nomination for the 1st District. She will face Democrat Chris Bob Reed, of Charleston.

District 2 District 2 covers 26 northern counties, including Monongalia, Preston and Marion.

Moore is nephew of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and grandson of the late Gov. Arch Moore. The other contenders were Joe Early, of Bridgeport, a retired Army 1st sergeant who works in cybersecurity engineering ; Chris "Mookie " Walker, a retired Air Force brigadier general from Martinsburg ; Nate Cain, of Hedgesville, also an Army veteran working in cybersecurity engineering ; and Alex Gaaserud, of Elkins, a businessman working in the e-commerce third party logistics industry.

Wendelin is a retired U.S. Navy officer living in Hardy County. He was unopposed in the primary.

Here are the votes, with 702 of 772 precincts reporting: Moore, 43, 087 (46 %); Early, 19, 512 (21 %); Walker, 13, 320 (14 %); Cain, 11, 727 (12 %); Gaaserud, 6, 878 (7 %).

National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Delanie Bomar commented, "Congratulations to Riley Moore on his primary victory. As the current state treasurer and a former state delegate whose track record shows he isn't afraid to fight ESG efforts and oppose extreme environmentalists, it's clear why West Virginians elected him today and will overwhelmingly send Riley to Congress in November."

District 1 District 1 covers 29 southern counties.

Miller was first elected to the U.S. House in 2018 after serving 12 years in the state House of Delegates.

Evans was elected to the House of Delegates in November 2020, and was sworn into office, but participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, filming himself inside. He was arrested two days later, subsequently pleaded guilty to a felony civil disorder charge, and served three months in prison.

Evans resigned from the House before the 2021 session began.

On the Democratic side, Reed defeated Jim Umberger, of Lewisburg. Reed is a retired educator. Umberger is a Vietnam veteran who subsequently earned a master's degree in counseling and worked in mental health services.

Here's how the votes fell.

Republican: Miller, 56, 398 (63 %); Evans, 33, 246 (37 %).

Democrat: Reed, 23, 926 (57 %); Umberger, 18, 168 (43 %).

All figures are unofficial pending canvassing.

Email: dbeard @dominionpost.com