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Cathy Kunkel
Cathy Kunkel (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Kunkel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kunkel earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Princeton University in 2006 and a certificate of advanced study in physics from Cambridge University. Her professional career includes working as an energy policy analyst between 2010 and 2019.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020
West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (June 9 Republican primary)
West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (June 9 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House West Virginia District 2
Incumbent Alexander Mooney defeated Cathy Kunkel in the general election for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Alexander Mooney (R) | 63.1 | 172,195 |
 | Cathy Kunkel (D)  | 36.9 | 100,799 | |
| Total votes: 272,994 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2
Cathy Kunkel advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cathy Kunkel | 100.0 | 52,896 |
| Total votes: 52,896 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2
Incumbent Alexander Mooney defeated Matthew Hahn in the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Alexander Mooney | 71.7 | 50,727 |
| Matthew Hahn | 28.3 | 19,989 | ||
| Total votes: 70,716 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Candidate Conversations
Click below to watch the conversation for this race.
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Cathy Kunkel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kunkel's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
* Protecting workers and communities in West Virginia as the U.S. transitions to a clean energy economy
- Federal investment in safe drinking water infrastructure, rural broadband, transportation, and mine reclamation
- Medicare for All universal healthcare
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
I am particularly passionate about energy policy and transitioning our economy away from fossil fuels without sacrificing jobs, health benefits and pensions.
What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?
Our greatest challenges all stem from the growing economic inequality in our country and the concentration of more and more wealth and power in fewer and fewer hands. Until we can come together and take on the powerful special interests (fossil fuel companies, health insurance companies, agricultural monopolies, and others) that profit off of the way things are now, we will not be able to adequately address the crises of healthcare, climate change, addiction, etc.
If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?
Energy & Commerce Natural Resources
Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?
A young man told me that he had intense leg pain for over a year but could not get it treated because he was on Medicaid and Medicaid's reimbursement rates are so low that doctors he went to were not interested in taking him seriously as a patient. When he finally got a different job and better health insurance, he found that he had a 10-inch cancerous tumor in his leg and that the cancer has spread throughout his body. If we had universal healthcare in this country, he would not be in his current life-threatening situation.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on September 13, 2019
