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Alan Bowlby Mollohan (born May 14, 1943) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1983 to 2011. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the Blue Dog Coalition.
The district encompasses the northern part of the state; it is based in Wheeling and includes Parkersburg, Morgantown, Fairmont and Clarksburg. He served on the House Appropriations Committee and was ranking Democrat on the Ethics Committee until being asked to step down in 2006. He was defeated in the Democratic Partisan primary held on May 11, 2010, by Mike Oliverio.Washington Post (2010). Alan Mollohan loses primary fight. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
He faced stiff electoral competition when, in 1992, West Virginia lost a House seat due to the 1990 Census. The redistricting placed Mollohan against 2nd District Congressman Buckey Staggers. No other party put up a candidate, meaning that the Democratic primary was tantamount to election. It was predicted to be a tough primary even though the new district was more Mollohan's district than Staggers', but Mollohan succeeded in winning his party's nomination with 60% of the vote.Barone. Almanac of American Politics. 2006 edition. Pages 1793–1795.
Since his first election in 1982 he only faced a total of six Republican challengers, the most recent being former state delegate Chris Wakim in 2006. In that race, Mollohan won 64% of the vote.
On April 7, 2006, The New York Times reported that Mollohan "has fueled five non-profit groups in his West Virginia district with $250 million in earmark funding." Mollohan created these nonprofit groups, which include the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, Institute for Scientific Research, Canaan Valley Institute, Vandalia Heritage Foundation, and MountainMade Foundation. Leaders of these groups were sometimes investors with him, possibly leading to his own personal gain.
On April 21, 2006, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced that Mollohan would temporarily step down as the Ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee. Howard Berman of California took Mollohan's place.
On April 25, 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mollohan and CEO Dale R. McBride of FMW Composite Systems Inc. of Bridgeport, West Virginia made a joint purchase of a farm along West Virginia's Cheat River. Mollohan had directed a $2.1 million government contract earmarked to FWM Composite Systems to develop lightweight payload pallets for space-shuttle missions. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have asked questions in Washington and West Virginia about Mollohan’s investments and whether they were properly disclosed, according to the Journal. Mollohan had previously acknowledged he may have made inadvertent mistakes on financial disclosure forms, and in June he filed corrections to his disclosure statements.
In January 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that no charges would be filed against Mollohan and that it had closed its investigation. Ben Friedman of the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington told CREW that the Justice Department has "closed the investigation into the case."
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