CHARLESTON, W.Va. Incumbent Rep. Carol Miller has seen many political adversaries throughout her long and popular career, but perhaps not as turbulent as Derrick Evans, her opponent in Tuesday’s Republican primary in West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District.
Evans participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol, and his verbal attacks on the three-term congresswoman have grown louder as the election approaches.
Both are big supporters of former President Donald Trump, but that’s where the similarities may end.
Miller has kept a low profile compared to some of her more outspoken colleagues since becoming the third West Virginia woman elected to Congress in 2018. The 73-year-old bison rancher and small business owner also served six terms in the House of West Virginia. Delegates. Her father is the late U.S. Rep. Samuel Devine of Ohio.
In 2022, Miller received 66% of the vote in a five-candidate Republican primary en route to winning his third term in Congress. This time, Evans is her only opponent.
Evans, 39, whose campaign last month sent almost daily emails highlighting his love for Trump and his attacks on Miller, was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates two months before the Jan. 6 riot. He calls himself the only elected official who “had the courage” to support efforts to temporarily suspend the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. He went live on Facebook cheering on what he described as a “revolution.”
Evans was arrested two days after the riot and resigned from office a month before the 2021 legislative session. He pleaded guilty to a civil disorder charge and served three months in prison. At the sentencing hearing, Evans apologized for his actions but made a U-turn upon leaving prison. He began to portray himself as the victim of a politically motivated prosecution.
Evans once called himself a Democrat, finishing sixth out of seven candidates in the state House primary in 2016. He then switched to the Libertarian Party in the general election and finished last out of five candidates.
In campaigning against Miller, Evans called her a “communal RINO” who “refused to stand up and fight with President Trump” as well as an “undocumented Democrat.” Miller aligned with Trump on nearly 100% of votes in the House while the former president was in office.
Evans repeated false claims still made by Trump that the 2020 election was stolen. And just hours after Evans and other rioters stormed the Capitol, Miller voted to challenge the Electoral College results in two states that Biden won. Miller said in a statement at the time that he had a constitutional duty to “ensure that all Americans have access to free, fair and accurate elections.”
In an email to The Associated Press, Miller did not directly address the 2020 outcome. But she said she is the only candidate in the race who has “never been a registered Democrat or run for office as a Democrat.”
The winner of Tuesday’s contest advances to the Nov. 5 general election to face one of two Charleston Democrats — Vietnam veteran Jim Umberger or educator Chris Reed.
In the 2nd Congressional District, state Treasurer Riley Moore was among five candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the seat vacated by Republican Alex Mooney, who is running for U.S. Senate. Democrat Steven Wendelin ran unopposed.
West Virginia has not elected a Democrat to the House since 2012 and was one of only two states where Trump won every county in 2016 and 2020.
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