Shelley Moore Capito, Moore Capito discuss family legacy in public service

Shelley Moore Capito, who was first elected to the House of Delegates in 1996, has since served in the U.S. House of Representatives and is currently one of West Virginia’s two U.S. senators.

She said that growing up in a public-service-minded household, her urge to go into politics and serve her state felt natural.

“I saw the way that (my father) was really able to make things better,” she said. “(I want to) make big differences, yes, but it’s really about making the small differences that make things better for an individual, town and county, as well as the entire state.”

That same passion is in her son, Moore Capito, who served in the House of Delegates from 2016 to 2023 before resigning his seat to campaign in this year’s election race for governor.

Moore Capito said his sense of family belonging reflects the Mountain State’s own tradition of being family-oriented, noting that he believes the one thing all West Virginians have in common is the urge to help each other out.

“I realized public service was important, but what was more impactful to me growing up was that my family impressed upon me to be involved with my community and do that in the largest and most impactful way you can,” he said. “This state is a very special place, and I’ve noticed in my life ... that the story that gets told about West Virginia is not the one that we know. (I want to) make sure that the rest of the world knows how special what we have here in West Virginia is.”

Shelley Moore Capito said she was excited when her son began showing interest in running for the House of Delegates. She said the advice she had for him was the same advice her dad had for her, including the strategy of taking that first year in office to sit in the back row, listen and learn.

Likewise, Moore Capito said he learned from his mother and grandfather that being a good listener is one of the best traits a politician can have.

“What’s most important is that we listen to people,” he said. “In my career, I’ve found that success in the political sphere is helping people and about taking good ideas and turning them into good public policy. I’m a firm believer that good policy is made when you engage as many people as you can in conversation and are then able to take the input you get and turn it into a result that’s positive for the entire state.”

Mother and son share that baseline belief, although they each have their own goals for how to better West Virginia.

Shelley Moore Capito said she’s primarily focused on economic, educational and community opportunities.

“It’s all about a healthier, more vibrant, prosperous, growing state so that young folks stay, grow and raise their families here,” she said.

Moore Capito said he shares many of those goals, noting that he hopes to use his skills in a new role if he’s elected governor. He said he already gets along well with his mother and, if Gov. Jim Justice is elected to the U.S. Senate, he gets along with him as well.

“It’s about a collaborative effort between elected officials on the state and federal level, so we’re going to have to have a very collaborative effort with rock-solid relationships,” Moore Capito said. “At the end of the day, the goal for me, as the father of an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, is to create a West Virginia that’s better than the one that I had. The one I had was great, but we can do better.”

While there is that long family history of politics and public service, Shelley Moore Capito said she doesn’t believe that she or her son are owed or due anything, but instead have had to pave their own ways that are separate from what the rest of the family has done.

The Moore-Capito family’s impact in West Virginia politics is already long and storied, but both Shelley Moore Capito and Moore Capito believe they have a lot left to give to the Mountain State, and they hope to continue that legacy for years to come.

“As the first West Virginia woman elected to the United States Senate, I want to have a legacy of confidence and (being a) positive voice for the young girls and women in this state to be the next leaders,” Shelley Moore Capito said. “My other legacy, I would hope, would be that I was a strong voice of working for the people I care most about, and that’s my state and country.”

Moore Capito shared her sentiment.

“At the end of the day, (I hope) folks say, ‘He loved this state and the people of this state,’ and that my work is reflective of that,” he said. “The future of this state is deeply personal to me, as it is to so many West Virginians. ... When I would leave (politics), I hope it’ll be looked on and people will say that West Virginia is a place where innovation happens and where young people seek to grow their families and careers.”