The GOP field for the 2nd District has become a potentially crowded one since Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced her bid for Senate last year.

Several Mountain State Republicans are giving her seat a serious look, according to a handful of state and national operatives.

Here’s a look at some of Capito’s potential successors:

• Del. Eric Nelson
• Former U.S. International Trade Commissioner Charlotte Lane
• State Sen. Mike Hall
• Former state Sen. Steve Harrison
• Former Del. Larry Faircloth
• Former Maryland GOP Chairman Alex Mooney (Roll Call previously reported on the circumstances of Mooney’s deliberations).
• Former Secretary of State Betty Ireland
• Former Del. Charles Trump

The 2nd District stretches across the middle of the state, all the way to the eastern panhandle to include some commuter population to Washington, D.C.

Democrats argue their chances of picking up this seat increase in a non-presidential election year. After all, Democrats have fared well here on the local level, giving the district an underlying “Democratic DNA,” as one national operative put it. (Roll Call will examine Democratic candidates for The Field in separate edition).

Capito herself expressed concern about her party’s ability to hold the seat in February in an interview with CQ Roll Call.