West Virginia State Senator John Unger announced early in 2007 that he would run against incumbent Shelley Moore Capito (R) to represent West Virginia’s Second Congressional District in the House of Representatives. He won the support of both West Virginia’s Democratic Congressmen and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).On January, 26 2008, the last day for candidates to file for races in West Virginia, Unger announced he was pulling out of the race. A few hours later Anne Barth, an aide to Sen. Robert Byrd, filed to enter the race. In an exclusive interview with The Observer, Sen. Unger explains why he pulled out of the race.

OBSERVER: Why did you pull out of the Congressional race?

UNGER: There are two major theme areas, one is philosophical the other is more political/ practical. Back in February 2007 when the DCCC was reaching out, several names came forward regarding who they were going to recruit. I was one of them. Finally they determined they wanted me to run. At the time it looked liked if you minimized [Rep. Capito’s] base in the Eastern Panhandle, and unite Democrats, particularly in Kanawha County, you could win that seat.

The only way you can find out your support is actually do it. So you run and you run hard and you run to be in it. Well several things became apparent. Some were expected and some not. I didn’t realize how encompassing fundraising is. It’s everything. It’s all about the chase for money. It’s all our elections [are about] any more at this level, including Congress, because you run every two years. It favors the incumbent. They have access to money; Congress favors the special interests; you have to feed it. You never stop campaigning,  ever. That aspect of it bothers me quite a bit.

OBSERVER: You tried it and you didn’t like the taste of it. But why the timing? You could have pulled out two weeks before, why the last day of filing?

UNGER: That’s the practical aspect. [Last year] I had enormous pressure to get going.  I went to see Anne Barth. She was very guarded; she was kind of cold. She said, “Why you and not me?” I said, “I’m not sure.”

At that time the DCCC was not sure they would support her because of the demographics. I said to Anne, “If you want to go, then I will stay out of it. But I’m getting pressure to get in. I need to give an answer.” She never did. She waffled. So I went on with my announcement with the second congressional seat. She was uncertain all the way up to September. That really hampered my fundraising. I could hardly get anything. No one wanted to make her mad, because they didn’t want to make [Senator] Byrd mad. Anne is nice person, but Byrd is the guy standing in the background that everyone is scared of when they look at Anne. I couldn’t get traction. Then finally she said she wouldn’t go.

OBSERVER: Anne Barth is from Charleston.

UNGER: She is from the South Hills. She is from the same dinner club as Shelley Moore Capito. They go around each other’s house each month and socialize—this is the rich section of Charleston. You see Charleston has always had a congressperson. Always, always.  They don’t care if it is a Democrat or a Republican. They weren’t going to let anyone form the Eastern Panhandle or any other part of the state to become congressperson, period. The problem is that all the money, the big money that you need in the Democrat party, comes from Charleston.

OBSERVER: Did you not get support from Charleston?

UNGER: I didn’t get the support I needed from the West Virginia Democratic leaders, particularly those from Charleston.

OBSERVER: Did that include Governor Joe Manchin?

UNGER: Well, there is a very close relationship between the Manchins and the Moores. I don’t want to talk about Joe. I don’t think it was personal to me.

OBSERVER: What is extraordinary is that you didn’t do this a week before. At best you could say that you were being inconsiderate to your party colleagues by pulling out at the last minute.

UNGER: There is no way you can fight both Democrat and Republican Party. Nick Casey [West Virginia Democratic Party Chair] wouldn’t return my calls till the week of the filing. I called him repeatedly before Christmas, over New Year. He wouldn’t return my calls..

OBSERVER: Do you think Governor Machin will support Anne Barth?

UNGER: I can’t speak to that.

OBSERVER: Did you get the money you needed to run the race?

UNGER: Money was being raised. I didn’t get the $300,000 we needed. We got around $250,000. I’m not sure about the final number.

OBSERVER: Was that why you pulled out?

UNGER: It all accumulates. The reason why I didn’t get the money was because I was shut off by all the politics going on. It wasn’t because it was John Unger. It could have been anybody from the Eastern Panhandle.

OBSERVER: Did you call Anne Barth and tell her you might not run so that she could gear up?

UNGER: No.

OBSERVER: Why not?

UNGER:  I was talking to the Democrat leadership about the issue and the problem.

OBSERVER: And you said, “I’m not going to run unless I can break through this?”

UNGER: Yes. They [said they] would talk to Byrd and the governor. A lot of people promise you stuff but very few deliver. That just way it is. That is human nature. You have to go five different people to get one thing done. I made the recommendation that since Anne said she was interested they should reach out to her.

OBSERVER: The filing deadline was Saturday January 26. When did you decide not to run?

UNGER: The decision was made Thursday or Friday. I didn’t want to give up. I wanted to file.

OBSERVER: You were going to file on that Saturday. Where were you?

UNGER: I was at an National Convention of State Legislators (NCSL) executive committee meeting that weekend.

OBSERVER: In West Virginia?

UNGER: I was in Florida on Saturday. The forms were in West Virginia.

OBSERVER: So somebody would run down to Charleston for you?

UNGER: Yes, we had every intention. . . .

OBSERVER: Was your pulling out at the last minute a bit of a slam to the West Virginia Democrat Party?

UNGER: No. That wasn’t the intention at all. The idea was that I wanted to still work it out. But I felt the oxygen sucked out of room. None of checks were coming in anymore that people had pledge, it just stopped.

OBSERVER: What about the rumor that you pulled out of the race because your girlfriend is pregnant. Is this true?

UNGER: No, I’m not getting married and no one is pregnant. The personal problem I did have was that I had an illness in the family.

OBSERVER: Are you bitter?

UNGER: I’m not bitter. I think that what is there is there. The people who make it sound like it [the decision to pull out of the race] was at the eleventh hour were the ones not in the loop.

OBSERVER: How do you feel about pulling out of the race?

UNGER: I guess in some respects I’m disappointed for West Virginia. Because of this  congressional district, the way it is, Charleston is never going to let go.

OBSERVER: But what about personally?

UNGER: I put a lot blood, sweat, and tears into this. I spent last the last eight months of my life on this race. I’ve learned a heck of a lot. I know thing about West Virginia politics that no person knows unless you walk the walk. You can’t learn it from books. I had never understood the personal connections, and what Arch Moore’s [Capito’s father and former governor] administration meant. Do you realize that the people in South Hills got their money because of Arch Moore’s administration? The inter-connectivity, even to the point of the leadership within the [West Virginia] Senate? There is no way somebody from the Eastern Panhandle can win, even with momentum at the national level, because if you do win, they [the Democrats at the national level] are going to make you vote the way they want you to vote. It would have meant even if I had won, I would have lost.

That’s reality. Our day is coming. It’s just not now.