WHEELING - A Republican who was expected to file for West Virginia's 1st Congressional District seat has decided there already are too many candidates in the race.

Dan Swisher of Parkersburg announced Friday that he will "defer" his congressional bid and not become the seventh Republican to challenge for the seat currently held by Democrat Alan Mollohan.

Swisher then threw his support to the campaign of Republican David B. McKinley of Wheeling.

"After the 2008 election cycle, without a Republican challenger in the 1st District, I was compelled to run," Swisher said in a news release. "With a quarter of a century protecting his own job and padding his own wallet, it was clear that Alan Mollohan had lost touch with the people of West Virginia and the process of representative government. Many of us can hardly remember when a Mollohan wasn't presiding over the district.

"The recent election of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate shows that Americans are no longer going to allow the status quo of keeping senators and congressman in office perpetually," he continued. "Representative Mollohan has been in office for a quarter of a century and has little to show for it. There are many issues that are adversely affecting West Virginians and all Americans that need solutions. Mollohan has not shown the leadership to take on these crucial issues. It is time for him to leave Washington and let a new representative fight for the needs of West Virginians."

Though he filed as a pre-candidate, Swisher never officially filed in the 1st District race.

"From an empty field in 2008 to a crowd of six challengers lining up for 2010, one more is not the number of perfection," he added. "The goal of the campaign has been to bring real conservative citizen representation back to the people's seat. I believe the opportunity is in front of us to get behind a conservative Republican to accomplish this goal for 2010. Now is the time to rally behind not pile on."

Republicans who had filed for the seat as of Friday evening, in addition to McKinley, are Wheeling residents Cindy Hall and Patricia VanGilder Levenson; Sarah Minear and Mac Warner of Morgantown; and Thomas Stark of Parkersburg.

"I've heard some strong and supportive things of Swisher," McKinley said. "I am honored and flattered that he recognizes that if we rally behind one candidate, we will all come out stronger in the primary."

McKinley noted that after he lost the GOP gubernatorial primary in 1996, he threw his support behind winning Republican Cecil Underwood. Underwood went on to win the election.

"People who had worked so hard for me for so long had to switch horses," he said. "This can bring dangers to it. We did it. We rallied behind Cecil, and he won.

"All the candidates are absolutely bonafide with good issues," McKinley added. "It will all come down to who has the most broad campaign of county organization."