Nicholas Joseph Rahall II (born May 20, 1949) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 1977 to 2015. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States House of Representatives from the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

. 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-defunct 4th congressional district. He became the representative for the 3rd congressional district when reapportionment was completed following the 1990 census. He was re-elected for nineteen terms, serving from January 3, 1977-January 2, 2015. His district included the southern, coal-dominated portion of the state, including Huntington, Bluefield, and Beckley. Rahall was the Ranking Member of the

House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...

. Rahall lost a bid for re-election to Congress in 2014, to West Virginia State Senator Evan Jenkins. , he is the last Democrat to have represented

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Early life, education, and early career

Rahall was born in

Beckley, West Virginia Beckley is a city in and the county seat of Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. It was founded on April 4, 1838. This city is the home of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology or West Virginia University, Beckley Campus. ...

, the son of Mary Alice and Nicholas Joseph Rahall. He is a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

of Lebanese-

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

descent, whose grandparents immigrated from Lebanon. His family owned radio station WWNR, which his father started with his uncles Farris, Sam, and Deem, and expanded to own other radio stations in a number of states. Rahall graduated in 1971 from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

. He attended graduate school at the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

, but did not graduate. He then worked as a sales rep for his family's radio station, WWNR. He served as president of the Mountaineer Tour and Travel Agency in 1974, and was president of West Virginia Broadcasting. He went to work as staff assistant for the late

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

who he identifies as a mentor.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

;1970s–90s Nick Rahall 1977 congressional photo

Rahall was elected to Congress in 1976 in the 4th district, succeeding

Ken Hechler Kenneth William Hechler (September 20, 1914 – December 10, 2016) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia's 4th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 197 ...

who ran for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Rahall won the district primary with a plurality of 38%. 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%. President_Bush_Signs_the_Magnuson-Stevens_Fishery_Conservation_and_Management_Reauthorization_Act_of_2006

President_Bush_Signs_the_Magnuson-Stevens_Fishery_Conservation_and_Management_Reauthorization_Act_of_2006

In 1978, Hechler challenged Rahall in the Democratic primary, and Rahall won with 56% of the vote. He was re-elected 17 times. Hechler later became the

West Virginia Secretary of State The Secretary of State of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election res ...

, and ran against Rahall in the primary in 1990. Rahall defeated him, receiving 57% of the vote. In 1990, he defeated Republican insurance agent Marianne Brewster with just 52% of the vote, the second-lowest winning percentage of his career. The district was redrawn after the 1990 census, becoming the 3rd district, due to changes to the state's population. ;2010 In 2010, he defeated Republican former State Supreme Court Justice

Spike Maynard Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard (December 8, 1942 – May 1, 2014) was an American lawyer and former judge from West Virginia. In 1996 he was elected as a Democrat to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. A judge of West Virginia's 30th Judi ...

with 56% of the vote, his lowest percentage since 1990. ;2012 In the 2012 election, Rahall defeated Republican

Rick Snuffer Richard Ray Snuffer (born July 31, 1961, in Beckley, West Virginia) serves in the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2010. Early life, education, and business career Snuffer was born in 1961 in Beckley, West Virginia. He graduated the World ...

with 53.5% of the vote. His eight-point margin of victory was his narrowest since 1990. ;2014 In 2014, Rahall faced a primary challenge from fellow Democrat and retired Army officer

Richard Ojeda Richard Neece Ojeda II ( ; born October 25, 1970) is an American politician and retired United States Army major who served in the West Virginia Senate representing the 7th district from 2016 until 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he ran ...

. Rahall won the primary with 66.4% of the vote. He faced Republican State Senator Evan Jenkins in the November general election. 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. Rahall was considered one of the most "endangered" House Democrats by the House Democratic campaign committee. He received an endorsement from the NRA. As of September 18, 2014, the race was rated a "toss up" by both University of Virginia political professor

Larry Sabato Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center for P ...

, of

Sabato's Crystal Ball ''Sabato's Crystal Ball'' is an online political newsletter and election handicapper. It predicts electoral outcomes for the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, U.S. governors, and U.S. presidential races, with elect ...

, and Stu Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report. 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." The Rahall campaign outspent the Jenkins campaign in the election by a two-to-one ratio. 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. Having served 19 terms in the House, the 65-year-old Rahall qualified for a

Congressional pension Congressional pension is a pension made available to members of the United States Congress. , members who participated in the congressional pension system are vested after five years of service. A pension is available to members 62 years of age wit ...

of about $139,000 a year.

Committee assignments

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...

(Ranking Member) ** Subcommittee on Aviation ** Subcommittee on Highways and Transit ** Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

Political issues

Mining

Rahall introduced legislation to improve mine safety. Rahall opposed legislation designed to end

mountaintop removal mining Mountaintop removal mining (MTR), also known as mountaintop mining (MTM), is a form of surface mining at the summit or summit ridge of a mountain. Coal seams are extracted from a mountain by removing the land, or overburden, above the seams. Thi ...

, a process often used in West Virginia. Rahall's policies involving mountaintop removal mining have been criticized as reflected by author and journalist Jeff Biggers in "The Blog" in ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', 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.

Environmental issues

Rahall accepts anthropogenic

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

as real and has stated that to reject the scientific consensus regarding it is "to just put your head in the sand." Rahall called the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...

"callous", attacked

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

'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 Administrator

Gina McCarthy Regina McCarthy (born May 3, 1954) is an American air quality expert who served as the first White House national climate advisor from 2021 to 2022. She previously served as the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency f ...

. Rahall, alongside three other Democrats, supported a GOP bill that would limit EPA authority on emissions, the

Energy Tax Prevention Act Energy Tax Prevention Act, also known as H.R. 910, was a 2011 bill in the United States House of Representatives to prohibit the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases to Climate change mitigation, ad ...

. 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." He also voted against the

American Clean Energy and Security Act The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress () that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme. The bill ...

. In 2007, Rahall introduced the

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007Pub.L. 110-140, originally named the Clean Energy Act of 2007, is an Act of Congress concerning the energy policy of the United States. As part of the Democratic Party's 100-Hour Plan during th ...

, which banned

incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxi ...

s. 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. In 2013, Rahall voted for the Progressive Caucus's budget, which included provisions for a carbon tax. The budget failed to pass.

Foreign policy

Rahall and another Congressman of Arab descent traveled to Syria and ignored

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

policy by meeting with Palestinian leader

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

, whom Rahall had known for years.

Queen Noor of Jordan Noor Al-Hussein ( ar, نور الحسين; born Lisa Najeeb Halaby; August 23, 1951) is an American-born Jordanian philanthropist and activist who is the fourth wife and widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was Queen of Jordan from their marriag ...

presented Rahall with the first Najeeb Halaby Award for public service. Rahall opposed the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including ...

. 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 that

Tariq Aziz Tariq Aziz ( ar, طارق عزيز , 28 April 1936 – 5 June 2015) was an Iraqi politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s w ...

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." 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."

Israel

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." Rahall, along with other Lebanese-American lawmakers, expressed concern with a bipartisan resolution supporting

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Le ...

without adding language urging restraint against civilian targets. He helped draft a resolution that urged "all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure." Rahall was the only member of the House to oppose the 1993 resolution urging Arab states to end their Arab boycott of Israel. Rahall was the most senior of five

Arab American Arab Americans ( ar, عَرَبٌ أَمْرِيكِا or ) are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World. According to the Arab American Inst ...

lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Endorsement of Barack Obama

In 2008, Rahall endorsed

, saying Obama understands the needs and aspirations of West Virginians. He was also Chair of the Arab Americans for Obama group. Explaining his position, Rahall cited Senator Byrd, who said "I work for no President. I work with Presidents." In an interview with

Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ...

, Rahall said that Obama had the courage and conviction to win the presidency, and that the then-senator was a true agent for change.

Ethical issues

In 2004, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' ran an article about Rahall and his sister, lobbyist Tanya Rahall. They reported that she made $15,000 per month as a

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

for

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, 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." 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

atar Atar, Atash, or Azar ( ae, 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭, translit=ātar) is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to ...

virtually had its own congressman in Washington, Nick Rahall (D-WV)". In February 2005, Rahall used Congressional stationery to write a letter to a

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

judge, David Stitt, asking for leniency for his son, Nick Rahall III, who was facing

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that res ...

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 " the emotions", and that he would reimburse the Treasury Department for the cost of the paper. The

United States House Committee on Ethics The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The House ...

did not launch an inquiry into the incident. Rahall was one of seven Democrats and twelve Republicans listed by

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and nonpartisan U.S. government ethics and accountability watchdog organization.''Washington Information Directory 2017-2018''; CQ Press; 2017; Pg. 327 Founded ...

in its annual "Most Corrupt Members of Congress Report" in 2011.

Melanie Sloan Melanie Sloan (born December 16, 1965) is an attorney, former counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, and the former Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit government ethics and accountability wa ...

, 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."

Electoral history

, + : Results 1976–90 ! Year ! ! Democrat ! Votes ! % ! ! Republican ! Votes ! % ! ! Third Party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - ,

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 73,626 , , 46% , , , F. S. Goodman , , 28,825 , , 18% , , ,

, , Democratic (

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be pos ...

) , , 59,067 , , 37% , , - ,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 70,035 , , 100% , , , ''No candidate'' , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 117,595 , , 77% , , , Winton Covey , , 36,020 , , 23% , , , , , , , - ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 91,184 , , 81% , , , Homer Harris , , 22,054 , , 19% , , , , , , , - ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 98,919 , , 67% , , , Jess Shumate , , 49,474 , , 33% , , , , , , - ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 58,217 , , 71% , , , Martin Miller , , 23,490 , , 29% , , , , , , , - ,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 78,812 , , 61% , , , Marianne Brewster , , 49,753 , , 39% , , , , , , , - ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 39,948 , , 52% , , , David Morrill , , 36,946 , , 48% , , , , , , , + : Results 1992–2014 ! Year ! ! Democrat ! Votes ! % ! ! Republican ! Votes ! % ! ! Third Party ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - ,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 122,279 , , 66% , , , Ben Waldman , , 64,012 , , 34% , , , , , , , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 74,967 , , 64% , , , Ben Waldman , , 42,382 , , 36% , , , , , , , - ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 145,550 , , 100% , , , ''No candidate'' , , , , , , , , , , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 78,814 , , 87% , , , ''No candidate'' , , , , , , , Joe Whelan , , Libertarian , , 12,196 , , 13% , , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, , , , 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% , , ,

, , 76,170 , , 35% , , , , , , , - , 2006 , , , , Nick Rahall , , 92,413 , , 69% , , , Kim Wolfe , , 40,820 , , 31% , , , , , , , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 133,522 , , 67% , , ,

Marty Gearheart Gary Martin 'Marty' Gearheart (born September 15, 1961 in Zebulon, North Carolina) is an American politician and a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing District 27 since January 12, 2013. Gearheart served consec ...

, , 66,005 , , 33% , , , , , , , - , 2010 , , , , Nick Rahall , , 83,636 , , 56% , , ,

, , 65,611 , , 44% , , , , , , , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 108,199 , , 54% , , ,

, , 92,238 , , 46% , - ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, , , , Nick Rahall , , 62,309 , , 45% , , , Evan Jenkins , , 77,170 , , 55% , , , , , ,

Personal life

Rahall and his second wife, Melinda Ross of Ashland, Kentucky, married in 2004. They have three children from his previous marriage, and three grandchildren. In 2008, Rahall appeared on an episode of ''

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives ''Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'' (often nicknamed ''Triple D'' and stylized as ''Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives'') is an American food reality television series that premiered on April 23, 2007, on the Food Network. It is hosted by Guy Fieri. The show o ...

'' which featured Hillbilly Hot Dogs of

Lesage, West Virginia Lesage is a census-designated place (CDP) on Ohio River Road in Cabell County, West Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,358. It is the nearest community to Clover site, a National Historic Landmark A National ...

. Rahall introduced the hot dog that's named after him on the menu, Rahall's Red Hot Weenie. 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. 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.

References

External links

* * * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahall, Nick 1949 births 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Lebanese descent American Presbyterians American radio executives Businesspeople from Beckley, West Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia Duke University alumni George Washington University alumni Lebanese Protestants Living people Middle Eastern Christians Politicians from Beckley, West Virginia Woodrow Wilson High School (Beckley, West Virginia) alumni