Jay Rockefeller, former West Virginia governor and U.S. senator, dies at 89

Jay Rockefeller, the former West Virginia governor and U.S. senator and the last member of his family’s political dynasty, died Thursday night at age 89, according to Mary Stewart of WETA. A Democrat, Rockefeller spent about half a century in public service in one of the country’s poorest states. Born John D. Rockefeller IV in New York City, he moved to West Virginia in 1964 to work in an anti-poverty program and later entered politics as a Democrat, winning the state House in 1966. After two terms as governor, he served 30 years in the U.S. Senate and embraced strip mining, helping win a 1976 landslide.