Amid the blue-and-gold-clad fans of West Virginia University's football team at a charity event in Fairmont stands Mike Oliverio, the Democratic candidate for the 1st congressional district. The opening game of the season may not be until September, but the race to win this seat is well under way. The district covers the upper third of West Virginia, including the panhandle of coal-producing counties wedged between Ohio and Pennsylvania. Although the coal industry is not as central here as it is in the south of the state, around 5,000 people work directly in it and mining forms part of the local identity. It is well paid work, but still dangerous; the list ofrnmining disasters reads like the battle honours of an infantry regiment.
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