PARKERSBURG — A Wood County man has filed a complaint about a recent mass mailing by Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va.

Harry Deitzler, a former prosecuting attorney for Wood County who ran for the House of Delegates as a Democrat in 2022, said the mailing is more about Mooney talking about himself than what is happening in the district.

“That wasn’t what this was about,” Deitzler said. “It was saying what a great person he was.”

Congressmembers have franking privileges to communicate with their constituents. The 8.5-by-11-inch flyer on card stock was mailed earlier this month.

Mailings are reviewed and approved by a congressional commission, said Ryan Kelly, a spokesman for Mooney.

“Congressman Mooney regularly sends official policy updates to constituents of the 2nd Congressional District. The content of his mailers are subject to approval by a bipartisan congressional commission to ensure each mailer conforms to the rigorous standards dictated by House rules,” he said. “Updates by mail are one of the most effective ways to convey important congressional updates to citizens in rural areas.”

The Trump-endorsed Mooney defeated Rep. David McKinley in the Republican primary for the new 2nd District in West Virginia. Population losses caused the state to lose a congressional district.

McKinley’s mailings were self-promoting, too, but not as blatant, Deitzler said.

“I can’t imagine there is a law that is intended to allow a member of Congress to campaign at taxpayer expense,” Deitzler said.

The flyer says Mooney is “fighting to protect West Virginians from Washington’s reckless spending.”

“Congressman Alex Mooney is fighting the Biden Administration’s tax and spend policy plans that spend money on special interest projects that outsource the jobs to foreign countries rather than here in America,” the flyer said.

Deitzler wrote a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics on March 20.

“It is patently obvious that the mailer is nothing but a self-promotion campaign piece. It appears that he has sent it to everyone in his district,” the letter said. “Congressman Mooney should be sanctioned and required to repay the government money (taxpayer dollars) that he unethically, illegally and wrongfully spent to promote himself.”

An email also was sent to the Office of Congressional Ethics, which responded it was in receipt of the message and reviewed the rules of an investigation, however, investigations are confidential, the office said.

The complaint will perhaps go nowhere, but at least its filing will put it on the record, Deitzler said.

Deitzler, a candidate for the House of Delegates new 11th District who was defeated in the general election by the Republican Bob Fehrenbacher, said he has no political plans and no plans to run for U.S. Senate. Mooney announced earlier this year his intention to run for Senate in 2024.

After losing the election in 2022, Deitzler said he has followed the word of the electors and bought a house in Snowshoe where he skis.

“I’ve accepted their mandate,” he said.

(Mancini can be contacted at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com)