David McKinley

Early life, education, and business career

After graduating with his B.S. degree in engineering from Purdue University, McKinley worked as a civil engineer for 12 years until founding his own firm, McKinley and Associates, based in Wheeling. The 40-member firm has been involved in $1 billion in construction projects over the past 30 years. Many of McKinley's projects have been government-funded.

McKinley has renovated structures of historic significance in West Virginia communities such as the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling. The venue for years was home to the legendary Jamboree, USA.

State politics

McKinley formerly was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

From 1990-94, he was chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party. As chairman, he was very critical of West Virginia's two Democratic senators. In 1991, he criticized U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller for running for president against President George H. W. Bush.

In 1994, he criticized U.S. Senator Robert Byrd for opposing a Balanced Budget Amendment.

In 1996, McKinley ran for governor against Astronaut Jon McBride and Cecil Underwood, a former governor, but lost to Underwood who went on to win the general election that year.

Elections

McKinley decided to run in West Virginia's 1st congressional district. The Democratic incumbent, Alan Mollohan, lost the Democratic primary to moderate State Senator Mike Oliverio. McKinley won the six-candidate Republican primary field with 35% of the vote. Mac Warner ranked second with 27% of the vote and State Senator Sarah Minear ranked third with 21% of the vote.

David McKinley received many endorsements during his 2010 campaign, including Parkersburg News, National Right to Life, the West Virginians for Life PAC, the National Federation of Independent Business, House Republicans Fund, West Virginia Farm Bureau, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

McKinley narrowly defeated Oliverio, 50.4%–49.6%, a difference of just 1,440 votes or 0.8% margin. He became only the fourth person to represent the district since 1953.

McKinley ran for re-election in 2012 in the newly redrawn 1st district. He faced Democratic candidate Sue Thorn, a former community organizer, in the general election. On November 6, 2012, McKinley defeated Thorn 62%-38%, winning every county in the district.

In 2013, McKinley announced that he would not be a candidate for the open United States Senate seat being vacated by Jay Rockefeller in 2014.

McKinley defeated the Democratic nominee, West Virginia State Auditor Glen Gainer III in the general election 64%-36%.

McKinley defeated former State Delegate Mike Manypenny in the general election 69%-31%.

Tenure

McKinley has broken ranks with the Republican majority a few times in his tenure in Congress. In April 2011, McKinley was one of only four Republican members of Congress to vote against the Republican budget proposal of 2012. He explained "As it relates to the Medicare, I applaud what Paul Ryan was trying to do, because we need to have an adult conversation about it. The Congressional Budget Office determined that some of the out-of-pocket costs could double for seniors and that sent up a red flag for me that we need to look at it."

In October 2011, he was the only Republican to vote against all three of the trade deals passed by Congress: Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. He said “Free trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA have been nothing more than broken promises that shipped our jobs overseas, and I won’t vote for any free trade agreements unless they’re fair to my constituents.”

McKinley has expressed concern over the "unchecked spending" of the United States, which he says results in us being "beholden to countries like China and Japan who own a significant amount of our debt."

McKinley was ranked as the 22nd most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (and the most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party).

McKinley is an active supporter of the Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act. Also known as the Stop the War on Coal Act, fights to protect American jobs and prevents against future legislation from being passed that would reduce mining jobs. McKinley believes, "The constant attacks on coal have to stop."

McKinley was one of 233 representatives who were in favor of the act that passed earlier this year in September 2012. McKinley stated, “Our job creators need a consistent and predictable regulatory program that will protect jobs we have and create new one.”

McKinley is a strong supporter of the notion that people should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. McKinley has been consistent in his voting patterns regarding gun control and continued this trend when voting yes to Requiring State Reciprocity for Carrying Concealed Firearms. He received an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. In 2012 the NRA is one of McKinley’s main endorsers.

McKinley is a supporter of the Pro-Life movement. He believes, "The use of federal funds to pay for ending the life of an unborn child is appalling,” even though federal funds are not used to pay for abortions, per the Hyde Amendment passed on September 30, 1976. Since he contains this set of beliefs he voted for the passing of the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in July 2012, which did not pass. This act would prohibit an abortion in the District of Columbia. McKinley consistently votes in support of the Pro-Life movement. Therefore, the National Right to Life Committee gave McKinley an “A” rating for his constant support from 2011 to the present.

In May 2014, McKinley offered an amendment to the Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 that bars the Department of Defense from using funds to assess climate change and its implications for national security. This despite a Department of Defense report that found that climate change impacts are threat multipliers, and that the rapid rise of global temperatures and associated extreme weather events could "exacerbate conditions that enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence." The amendment passed on a near party-line vote.

On May 23, 2013, McKinley introduced the Better Buildings Act of 2014 (H.R. 2126; 113th Congress) into the United States House of Representatives. The bill would amend federal law aimed at improving the energy efficiency of commercial office buildings. The bill would create a program called "Tenant Star" similar to the existing Energy Star program. He argued in favor of the bill, saying that "finding ways to use energy efficiently is common sense. We ought to be promoting efficiency as a way to save energy, money and create jobs."

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Personal life

David McKinley is a seventh-generation resident of Wheeling, West Virginia and father of four children. He has six grandchildren. His wife, Mary, has been a critical care nurse for 39 years. She holds a master's degree in nursing.