Shelley Wellons Moore Capito is one of the important faces of the Resurgent Women In America. With Miller and Rader, she leads the day’s fight against Male dominance of the world, and is one of the leading Female Leaders in Cabell County. Yet she is little known outside of the US. This article will try to lift the veil on one of the most enigmatic women in America, and try to answer the question, who is Shelley Moore Capito?
Early Years
Shelley Moore Capito was born on November 26, 1953, at Glen Dale, West Virginia, United States. She is the daughter of three-term Governor of West Virginia, Arch Alfred Moore Jr., and mother Shelley Moore (nee Riley). Capito spent her early childhood in Charleston, and was educated at the Holton-Arms School. This was a college-preparatory school located in Bethesda, Maryland.
Higher Education
She then earned her Bachelor’s degree (in Zoology) from Duke University in 1975. She then followed it up with her Masters degree at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education . She is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and has represented the State of West Virginia as the Cherry Blossom Princess in 1972.
Career Before Politics
Shelley Moore Capito started her working life as a career counselor at West Virginia State University. She then became the Director of the Educational Information Center for the West Virginia Board of Regents.
Door Opening
In 1996, she first opened the door to Politics by standing for, and winning, the Kanawha County seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates. She went on to serve two terms from December 1, 1996, to December 1, 2000. Then came her next step. When US Congressman Robert (Bob) Wise ran for Governor in 2000, Capito ran as a Republican for the open seat in West Virginia’s 2nd District. She won by two percentage points, a startling performance, considering her opponent was the experienced Democrat nominee, lawyer Jim Humphreys. In doing that, she became the first Republican to represent West Virginia in Congress since 1983. She was also the first woman to be elected to Congress from West Virginia who was not a widow of a member of Congress.
Stepping Out
Her ball had started rolling. In 2002, she won re-election to a second term. This time she defeated the redoubtable Humphreys 60% to 40%. A third term came her way in 2004, when she disposed of the former newscaster Erik Wells 51% to 41%. Now she was unstoppable in this position. 2006 came, and there was whispering in the aisles of power to send her as a possible challenger to Senator Robert Byrd, but she refused. Defeating the state’s Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Callaghan 57% to 43% for a fourth term. By now, her re-election had become a bi-annual ritual in the state of West Virginia. She repeated it for a fifth term in 2008 (defeating Anne Barth, a former aide to Senator Byrd, 57% to 43%). Again in 2010, she refused her Party’s offer of challenging Joe Manchin for the US Senate seat, and won a sixth term instead, setting aside Virginia Lynch Graf 68% to 30%. Then, in 2012, she went ahead and won re-election for a seventh time, crushing the former gubernatorial aide Howard Stint 70% to 30%. She simply could not be defeated in her own state ! Capito has additionally served in various capacities, on Committees and as Caucus member, including Chairman to the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, Afterschool Causus, and Congressional Arts Caucus.
Capito was flying now. She announced her intention to challenge incumbent Democratic Jay Rockefeller in November 26, 2012, but he retired first. Braving persistent opposition from Tea party groups, she won 87% of the Republican primary votes to finally challenge the Democratic Secretary of state Natalie Tennant in the general election, to win 62% to 34%. And then, on January 5, 2016, Capito was appointed as a Consel to the majority leader. She is till now the Junior United States Senator for West Virginia since 2015.
Personal Notes
Shelley Moore Capito is married to Charles L. Capito. She has three children, Moore capito, Shelley capito, and Charles Capito.
Views
Shelley believes that today’s challenges demand a bipartisan approach to solving outstanding problems. Assuming office on January 6, 2015, her current term ends on January 3, 2021. She serves with Democrat Joe Manchin, and finds that quite natural for modern day solutions. Common sense, she thinks, is the key. Only a balanced view of common good can assist the state’s economic growth, and help lift up working families. She wants to join hands to unleash the energy potential hidden in the psyche of West Virginia, and make this the best governed state in the United States of America.
