WEST VIRGINIA
      Nov. 4, 2014 U.S. Senate                                      

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+Shelley Moore Capito (R) i
281,520
 		70.28%
Natalie Tennant (D)
 		156,360
 		27.00%
John S. Buckley (L)
 		7,409
 1.63%
Bob Henry Baber (M)
 		5,504
 1.21%
Phil Hudok (C)
 		2,566
 0.57%

453,659
Registration: 1,269,219.
Plurality: 337,145 votes (43.28 percentage points).
WV Secretary of State


REPUBLICAN PICK-UP
Notes:  This was an open seat.  Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D), 75, first elected in 1984, announced on Jan. 11, 2013 that he would not seek at sixth term.  West Virginia has trended strongly Republican in the last several decades and it was going to be very difficult for Democrats to hold the seat.  In 2012 Mitt Romney obtained 62.30% of the vote, his fifth best showing of any state, and won by a margin of 26.76 percentage points.

On the ballot to succeed Rockefeller were U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R), Secretary of State Natalie Tennant (D), John S. Buckley (L), Bob Henry Baber (M) and Phil Hudok (C).  Capito announced her candidacy on Nov. 30, 2012, before Rockefeller's announced his retirement.  She was first elected to Congress in 2000 and was in her seventh term; she previously served two terms in the House of Delegates.  She is the daughter of Arch Moore, Jr., who served as Governor of West Virginia from 1969-77 and 1985-89.  Tennant was elected Secretary of State in 2008 and re-elected in 2012; she previously worked as a TV reporter and co-owned a video production and media training company.  She ran for governor in the 2011 special election.

The May 13 primaries were lopsided affairs.  Tennant won 77.95% of the vote, defeating two opponents, and Capito won 87.50% over two opponents.

Coal was a central issue as shown by two TV ads from late July.  The Tennant campaign ran a dramatic ad where she stated, "I’ve fought to protect our coal jobs right alongside Joe Manchin, and I’ll stand up to leaders of both parties who threaten our way of life. I'll make sure President Obama gets the message."  She then pushed a lever, and the ad showed the lights going out at the White House.  The Capito TV ad stated, "When Obama declared his war on coal, Natalie Tennant not only defended him but endorsed him for president—twice. Now Tennant's campaign efforts are being heavily financed by some of the most radical anti-coal people in the country." 
 
Capito and Tennant engaged in a debate with many sharp exchanges on Oct. 7 at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences in Charleston (>).  West Virginia Public Broadcasting held a debate open to all the candidates on Oct. 17.  Four of the five candidates participated; Capito declined citing a scheduling conflict (>).
 
According to the Center for Responsive Politics (>), the Capito campaign outspent the Tennant campaign by $8.8 million to $3.5 million.


Campaign Managers:
Shelley Moore Capito  Chuck Flannery
(Nov. 2012)  Campaign manager on Capito for Congress, Jan. 2010-Nov. 2012.  Field representative for U.S. Rep. Capito, July 2008-Dec. 2009.  Campaign finance specialist in the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office, Feb. 2005-July 2008.  Studied at West Virginia University.
 
Natalie Tennant  Simone Ward
Acting constituency outreach director/deputy constituency outreach director and director of women's outreach at the DNC in the 2012 cycle. Campaign manager on Sen. Barbara Mikulski's re-election campaign, 2009-10.  Served in the political department at EMILY's List from 2007 including as senior political tracker.  A deputy director of the DNC's American Majority Partnership under then-Chairman Howard Dean.  Executive director of Democratic GAIN in 2004.  Executive director of Young Democrats of America starting in June 2002.  Worked with Mercer & Associates in Washington, DC.  Finance assistant at the DNC; special assistant at the White House.  B.A. in political science from Oklahoma City University.  Interned on Al Gore's 2000 campaign.  Grew up in Kansas City, MO.  


See also:
Iowa State University – Archives of Women's Political Communication: Shelley Moore Capito  |  Natalie Tennant.

MJ Lee.  "Meet the anti-Elizabeth Warren."  Politico, July 14, 2014.

David Catanese. "GOP split resurfaces over Capito bid."  Politico, Nov. 26, 2012.


 
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