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David Bennett McKinley (born March 28, 1947) is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, McKinley was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1980 to 1994, and chaired the West Virginia Republican Party from 1990 to 1994.
McKinley is generally considered a moderate Republican. After West Virginia lost a House seat in the 2020 redistricting cycle, his district was merged with that of Representative Alex Mooney. McKinley lost to Mooney with 35.6% of the vote in the 2022 Republican primary.
McKinley has renovated structures of historic significance in West Virginia communities, such as the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling.
McKinley was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1980 to 1994. From 1990 to 1994, he chaired the West Virginia Republican Party. As chair, he was very critical of West Virginia's two Democratic U.S. senators. In 1991, he criticized Senator Jay Rockefeller for exploring a run for president against President George H. W. Bush. In 1994, he criticized Senator Robert Byrd for opposing a Balanced Budget Amendment.
In 1996, McKinley ran in the Republican primary for governor against astronaut Jon McBride and former governor Cecil Underwood. He came in third place; Underwood won the general election.
| +: Results 2010–2020 ! | Year ! ! | Republican ! | Votes ! | Pct ! ! | Democratic ! | Votes ! | Pct ! | |
| 2010 | David McKinley | 90,660 | 50.4% | Mike Oliverio| align="right" 89,220 | 49.6% | |||
| 2012 | 133,809 | 62.5% | Sue Thorn| align="right" 80,342 | 37.5% | ||||
| 2014 | 92,491 | 64.0% | Glen Gainer III| align="right" 52,109 | 36.0% | ||||
| 2016 | 163,469 | 69.0% | Mike Manypenny| align="right" 73,534 | 31.0% | ||||
| 2018 | 127,997 | 64.6% | Kendra Fershee| align="right" 70,217 | 35.4% | ||||
| 2020 | 180,488 | 69.0% | Natalie Cline| align="right" 81,177 | 31.0% |
McKinley received many endorsements during his campaign, including from 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. He became only the fourth person to represent the district since 1953.
McKinley defeated the Democratic nominee, West Virginia State Auditor Glen Gainer III, 64%–36%.
In a race that received nationwide attention, Mooney handily defeated McKinley in the Republican primary on May 10 even though the new district was geographically and demographically more McKinley's district. Donald Trump endorsed Mooney before the election, and McKinley, who has been ranked as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress, was criticized for holding moderate views.
McKinley was ranked the 22nd most bipartisan member of the House during the 114th United States Congress (and the most bipartisan House member from West Virginia) by the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy, which ranks members of Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring how often each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member co-sponsors bills by members of the opposite party).
McKinley was one of 233 representatives in favor of the act, which passed in September 2012. He said, "Our job creators need a consistent and predictable regulatory program that will protect jobs we have and create new one." On November 5, 2021, McKinley was one of 13 House Republicans to break with their party and vote with a majority of Democrats in favor of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. On July 28, 2022, McKinley was one of 24 House Republicans to break with their party and vote with a majority of Democrats in favor of the CHIPS and Science Act.
In October 2011, McKinley was the only Republican freshman 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 about the United States' "unchecked spending", which he says results in being "beholden to countries like China and Japan who own a significant amount of our debt".
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.
In January 2020, McKinley and Representative Kurt Schrader co-authored an opinion piece for USA Today on climate change. It read in part, "climate change is the greatest environmental and energy challenge of our time, and our government is failing to meet it. Instead of energy policy that lurches in a different direction after every election cycle, we need a new approach to develop realistic solutions that will enjoy support from both parties in Congress. Setting a steady course would be far better for both industry and the environment." The piece also called for "policies that will make clean energy technologies for all fuels affordable—solar, wind, hydro and other renewables, as well as nuclear, carbon capture for fossil fuels, energy efficiency, storage, and other technologies that will make the grid more secure, resilient, and affordable." Innovation and regulation can curb climate change. We need bipartisan support for both.
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