"Gadfly" Announces Congressional Bid

A South Charleston lawyer perhaps best known for lobbing lawsuits against public programs and proposals says he's seeking the U.S. House seat held by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, The Associated Press reports.

The details come from The Charleston Gazette: Thornton Cooper "bought newspaper and radio advertisements in Charleston Thursday announcing he is a Democratic candidate for the state’s 2nd Congressional District seat."

Dubbed "the Don Quixote of West Virginia politics" in a 1988 AP profile, Cooper has tilted against privatizing state-owned liquor stores, a series of statewide bond sale proposals, several proposed constitutional amendments, Kanawha County school bonds, Charleston's user fee and racetrack table games. To name a few.

Most recently, Cooper attended Thursday's public hearing convened in Kanawha County to air opinions regarding video lottery parlors. The Charleston Gazette reports that Cooper contrasted their situation with the recent table games election. “If you’re going to allow [video lottery], there should be a referendum on a county level, for parallelism,” Cooper said.

Retired from the state Public Service Commission, Cooper told the Gazette "his platform is simple: raise the minimum wage, create universal health care and bring the troops home from Iraq 'as soon as possible without a bloodbath.'"

Cooper is the second Democrat to seek to challenge Capito, a Republican. State Sen. John Under, D-Berkeley, announced his candidacy in June -- and attracted some significant support.