after switching his party affiliation to republican, maynard officially filed candidacy papers on february 1, 2010 to run for the u.s. house in the 3rd district of west virginia. he won the party primary with 30.1% of the vote against three other candidates. maynard has said that his campaign "is about protecting the coal industry, including all the jobs associated with it." rahall defeated maynard in the november general election.