Shelley Capito

Shelley Moore Capito is the senior U.S. Senator from West Virginia and a member of the Republican Party. Born in Glen Dale, West Virginia, she is the daughter of Arch Moore Jr., a former three-term governor of the state. Capito earned a Bachelor of Science in zoology from Duke University in 1975 and a Master of Education from the University of Virginia in 1976. Before entering public office, she worked as a career counselor at West Virginia State University and directed the Educational Information Center for the West Virginia Board of Regents. Her political career began in the West Virginia House of Delegates, where she served from 1997 to 2001. Capito was first elected to the U.S. Congress in 2000, serving seven terms in the House of Representatives for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district. In 2014, she was elected to the U.S. Senate, making history as the first woman elected to the Senate from West Virginia. Throughout her tenure, she has held significant leadership roles, including serving as the Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and as a member of the Senate Appropriations and Commerce Committees. She has focused on issues such as energy production, rural broadband expansion, and infrastructure development.

Senator Capito advocates for an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy that prioritizes the coal and natural gas industries, frequently opposing federal environmental regulations that she argues negatively impact West Virginia's economy. On healthcare, she emphasizes rural access, supporting funding for community health centers and research for Alzheimer's and childhood cancer. Her stance on immigration focuses on enhanced border security; she has criticized the executive branch's handling of the southern border and has called for more stringent enforcement of immigration laws. In foreign policy, she supports providing assistance to U.S. allies like Israel and Ukraine, though she often seeks to pair such aid with domestic border security measures. She also promotes economic growth through regulatory reform and infrastructure investments, particularly in rural broadband and transportation.