CQPolitics

The 3rd is a largely rural region that takes in the state’s southern counties, sharing borders with Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. Known as the “coal district,” it is home to five of the state’s 10 leading coal-producing counties, including the top producer, Boone County.

The last 20 years have been hard on the 3rd. As the coal industry mechanized production, the need for manpower was sharply reduced. Unemployment rates have declined since 1996, but remain higher than the national average. These struggles combined with persistent pockets of Appalachian poverty to give the district the third-lowest median income in the nation as of the last census, at slightly more than $25,600.

The 3rd attracts visitors with its ski resorts, whitewater rafting and The Greenbrier, a luxury resort hotel in White Sulphur Springs that hosts congressional party retreats. Raleigh County is home to Tamarack, a state and private cultural center featuring in-house artisans, live music, regional cuisine and retail shopping.

Huntington, by far the district’s largest city and home to Marshall University, is cushioned by its location on the Ohio River and a diversified economy of tobacco growers as well as oil and steel companies.

Despite a continued Democratic lead in party registration and an overall district-wide preference for Democrats elsewhere on the ballot, George W. Bush made major inroads here in the last two presidential elections. He lost the 3rd by just 4 percentage points in 2000, but won the district in 2004 with 53 percent of the vote. Raleigh County is one of the the most Republican parts of the 3rd, but voters, especially those in the city of Beckley, elect a fair number of Democrats, often because many run unopposed. Still, Raleigh was Bush’s best 2004 county in the 3rd, giving him 61 percent of the vote.

Major Industry

Coal, wood products, tourism

Cities

Huntington, 51,475; Beckley, 17,254; Bluefield, 11,451

Notable

The New River Gorge Bridge, north of Fayetteville in Fayette County, is the second-longest steel-arch bridge in the world and the second-highest bridge in the United States.