Richard Robb

Richard Robb was a Democratic candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the 2nd Congressional District (map) of West Virginia. He was seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), but lost a primary election to Anne Barth.

Bio
Robb was elected mayor of South Charleston, West Virginia in 1976, and he served 32 years in the capacity (making him the state's longest serving mayor). He first ventured into statewide politics in the unpaid chairman of the state Republican Party for a brief period in the early 1990s.

In 2004 he entered a six candidate primary for the Republican nomination for Governor of West Virginia, finishing fifth. This was only the first seriously contended Republican primary for a major office since 1988 and one of only four since 1930, when that party lost control of the state. In an effort to unify the party, the winning candidate had the state convention appoint the five losers as the state's five Electors in the Electoral College, rather than the traditional slate of party loyalists.

Robb then appeared on the CNN and announced that he was a "free agent" and opposed the policies of George W. Bush. He announced that he would not cast the "deciding vote" for him. In the end, the electoral results were not close and Robb chose not to be a "faithless Elector".

2006 elections
Following the 2004 election, Robb changed his registration to Democrat and declared his opposition to the war in Iraq. He ran in the 2006 congressional elections for the nomination in the state's Second District on a "peace platform" and finished third.

2008 elections
Robb was seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) in the 2008 congressional elections, but lost a primary election to Anne Barth.

Committees
Robb will be assigned committees if and when she is elected to Congress.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * 2008 U.S. congressional elections
 * 2008 U.S. congressional election dates
 * Portal:West Virginia and the U.S. Congress

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District