Ken Hechler

**Kenneth William "Ken" Hechler** (September 20, 1914 – December 10, 2016) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 1977. Hechler was the West Virginia Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001. He was currently the oldest living person to have served in the United States Congress.

## Early life

Hechler was born in Roslyn, New York on September 20, 1914. He studied at Swarthmore College and later attended Columbia University.

## Career

Hechler faced a close race for the first (and as it turned out, only) time in 1972. Following the 1970 Census, West Virginia's population was low. The state legislature merged Hechler's district with most of the old 5th District, comprising several coal-mining counties around Bluefield and Beckley.

The 5th had been represented by Democrat James Kee of Bluefield since 1965, and members of his family had held the district continuously since 1933. On paper, the new district favored Kee, who retained 65 percent of his former territory. However, Hechler routed him in the Democratic primary by almost 26 points and easily won reelection in November. He was reelected in 1974 after being unopposed in the primary and general election.

## Later career

In 1976, he entered a multi-candidate primary for governor, but lost that statewide race by a large margin. In 1984 he ran for West Virginia Secretary of State and won. He was re-elected in 1988, 1992, and 1996. n 1990, he again ran, in the middle of his Secretarial term, for his old Congressional seat, but was defeated by Rahall in the primary. In 2004 he ran yet again for his old post as Secretary of State. This time, he won the Democratic primary by a plurality, but lost the general election to Republican Betty Ireland.

## Personal life

Since 2004, Hechler has campaigned against mountaintop removal mining. On June 23, 2009, Hechler, then aged 94, participated in a protest near mountaintop removal mining sites in the West Virginia coalfields in the Coal River Valley along with others. He was one of 29 protesters arrested for trespass.

Hechler died under hospice care in Romney, West Virginia on December 10, 2016 from a stroke, aged 102.

## Other websites

- Ken Hechler  _official site_
- Ken Hechler for West Virginia  _official campaign site_
- Oral History Interview with Ken Hechler , Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, November 29, 1985 by Niel M. Johnson
- Ken Hechler 99th birthday

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **honorific-prefix**: The Honourable, The Honorable
- **name**: Ken Hechler
- **image**: Ken Hechler 2008.jpg
- **caption**: Ken Hechler speaking in 2008
- **order**: 26th Secretary of State of West Virginia
- **term start**: 1985
- **term end**: 2001
- **governor**: Arch A. Moore, Jr.
Gaston Caperton
Cecil H. Underwood
- **predecessor**: A. James Manchin
- **successor**: Joe Manchin
- **state2**: West Virginia
- **district2**: West Virginia's 4th congressional district, 4th
- **term start2**: January 3, 1959
- **term end2**: January 3, 1977
- **preceded2**: Will E. Neal
- **succeeded2**: Nick Rahall
- **party**: Democratic Party (United States), Democratic
- **birth place**: Roslyn, New York
- **death place**: Romney, West Virginia
- **alma mater**: Swarthmore College
Columbia University
- **spouse**: (his death)
- **residence**: Slanesville, West Virginia
- **website**: [http://www.kenhechler.us/ www.kenhechler.us/]