Unrepentant Jan. 6 rioter Derrick Evans goes up against GOP Rep. Carol Miller in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Incumbent Rep. Carol Miller has seen plenty of political challengers throughout her long, popular career, but perhaps not one as boisterous as Derrick Evans, her opponent in Tuesday’s Republican primary in West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District.

Evans was a participant in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, and his verbal attacks on the three-term congresswoman have grown louder as the election has neared.

Both are huge backers of former President Donald Trump, but that’s where the similarities may end.

Miller has kept a low profile compared to some of her more outspoken colleagues since becoming the third woman from West Virginia elected to Congress in 2018. The 73-year-old bison farmer and small business owner also served six terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Her father is the late U.S. Rep. Samuel Devine of Ohio.

In 2022, Miller received 66% of the vote in a five-candidate GOP primary en route to winning her third term in Congress. This time, Evans is her only opponent.

The 39-year-old Evans, whose campaign over the past month has pushed out emails almost daily highlighting his love for Trump and his attacks on Miller, was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates two months before the Jan. 6 riot. He calls himself the only elected official who “had the courage” to stand behind efforts to temporarily halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. He livestreamed himself on Facebook cheering on what he described as a “revolution.”

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