Long Biography

David. B McKinley is a proud, seventh generation West Virginian and a native of Wheeling. After graduating from Purdue University’s civil engineering school, he worked in the construction industry and taught night classes at technical colleges for the next 12 years.

David then established McKinley and Associates—an architectural and engineering company that has grown to include offices in Wheeling and Charleston, W.Va. and Washington, PA. As a successful former small businessman, David has created hundreds of jobs and understands the vital role small businesses plays in creating private sector jobs and strengthening the economy. He has been recognized, twice, by West Virginia Executive Magazine as one of the 50 most influential people in West Virginia.

From 1981 through 1994, he represented the Third Delegate District in the West Virginia Legislature, serving primarily on the Finance Committee as well as the Banking and Insurance and Roads and Transportation Committees, among others. In 1990, David was elected as Chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party Executive Committee and was one of three representing West Virginia on the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C.

David was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the First District of West Virginia in 2010. In Congress, he has a seat on the Committee on Energy and Commerce. He recognizes the coal industry is the backbone of West Virginia’s economy and the attacks on coal from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Obama Administration must stop.

During his short tenure as a freshman in Congress, David has stayed true to his campaign promises by stopping governmental regulatory overreach; creating and protecting local Marcellus shale jobs; passing energy independence legislation out of the House; rejuvenating the construction industry by reducing taxes; fighting illegal steel dumping out of China; opposing trade agreements that threaten American jobs; cutting red tape in obtaining prescription drugs; supporting our Veterans by keeping them safe after serving our country; and fighting for the survival of the coal industry while protecting the jobs of thousands of hard working men and women in the coal industry.

David is married to the former Mary Gerkin from New Martinsville, West Virginia and is a proud father of four children and six grandchildren.