Jay Rockefeller, West Virginia governor and senator, dies at 89

John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV, the former Democratic governor of West Virginia and longtime US senator, has died at 89. He was elected governor in 1976 and won a second term four years later; he entered the Senate after winning election in 1984.

Family representative Shelley Rodgers confirmed his death, Town & Country said on 6 November. West Virginia Public Broadcasting separately said Mary Stewart, vice president for external affairs at public broadcasting station WETA, confirmed it. Rockefeller died Thursday night at his home in Washington, DC; Town & Country said no cause of death had been given at the time of its report.

From volunteer to senator

Rockefeller came to West Virginia in 1964 as a volunteer in an anti-poverty program. He won election to the state House of Delegates in 1966 and became secretary of state two years later.

As governor, he created the West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety. He also refused to call on the National Guard to suppress the 1977–1978 coal miners’ strike, West Virginia Public Broadcasting said, citing West Virginia University’s Rockefeller library.

In the Senate, Rockefeller was a lead author of the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 1997. The federal-state program provides low-cost health coverage to children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

He chaired the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee during three separate tenures between 1993 and 2003, then led the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee from 2009 to 2015. He retired that year after five consecutive Senate terms spanning nearly 30 years.

West Virginia officials pay tribute

In statements on 6 November, Senator Shelley Moore Capito said Rockefeller treated her with kindness and encouragement and that their friendship transcended politics. Former senator and governor Joe Manchin called him a mentor and friend who helped him during his 2012 Senate campaign and taught him how to represent the state.