Least effective West Virginia Congressman serves Marion County

Congressman David McKinley is the most ineffective member from West Virginia, according to InsideGov.com ratings.

McKinley represents the 1^st district, which includes Marion County and goes from the Northern Panhandle to Parkersburg to the Eastern Panhandle to Morgantown.

Rep. David McKinley

The ratings are based on the number of bills sponsored that at least get through committee. McKinley has sponsored 68 bills and 7% made it through committee.

But that doesn’t get him close to the 35 most ineffective, many of whom have had NO bills get through committee, but he is last among West Virginia’s delegation in Congress, based on these ratings. There are 435 members of Congress, so obviously you have to push through the crowd to get noticed.

The list includes only members of Congress who have served at least one full term and does not include bills introduced in the 114th Congress, since they still have time to get passed.

Only four men have represented the 1^st district since 1953: Bob Mollohan (D) (1953–1957), former Governor Arch Moore, Jr. (R) (1957–1969), Bob Mollohan again (1969–1983), Alan Mollohan (1983–2011) and Purdue graduate and civil engineer McKinley (R) (2011-present).

Fiscal conservative McKinley was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1981 to 1994, and he was chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party from 1990 to 1994. He lost to Cecil Underwood in the 1996 Republican gubernatorial primary. Underwood won the governor race in that general election. McKinley is a seventh-generation resident of Wheeling.

According to a Gallup poll, public approval of Congress has fallen to near-record lows. On average, 34% of the population approves of a given Congress. The current 114th Congress has a 17% approval rating.

According to GovTrack.us, the last two Congresses have enacted fewer laws than any other Congress since 1947. And the 114th Congress may surpass them all in terms of doing nothing.