When Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va, seeks a 2012 re-election bid, she not only faces an early-announced inter-party competitor, but also a grassroots effort to unseat her.

Last month, Delegate Jonathan Miller, a fellow Republican, commended Capito for her service, but announced he would be running as a much-needed fresh face for reform in the second district. Now, a grassroots collective of second district citizens are rallying for her resignation, mostly based on her April support of Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan.

Activist and writer Russell Mokhiber of Berkeley Springs, said he is part of the organization demanding resignation for “unconscionable” actions he said would “effectively put Medicare on the road to extinction.”

“We’re urging her to step down,” Mokhiber said.

In response to the call to step down, Capito spokesperson Jamie Corley focused on the representative’s support in the state. Capito was re-elected to her seat and received the vote of more than two-thirds of her voting constituency.

“Congresswoman Capito was overwhelmingly elected to her sixth term in November because she is a respected leader who puts West Virginians first,” Corley said. “Whether voting for bills to help small businesses create jobs or assisting a constituent who is having trouble with the Social Security Administration, Congresswoman Capito has worked tirelessly to better the lives of her constituents.”

When asked to comment on a fellow Republican attempting to take her seat, a spokesperson for Capito declined any specific comment on Miller’s race.

Mokhiber, editor of Morgan County USA, editor of Corporate Crime Reporter and founder of Single Payer Action, relayed a recent encounter with a friend. He said an uninsured heart attack victim said he was in need of a surgery that would cost nearly $200,000, but couldn’t afford it.

The man was not yet old enough to qualify for Medicare, a safety net for citizens over 65-years-old. Mokhiber said Capito is trying to remove that safety net as well.

“I just don’t believe that in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, people should be put in this position of facing serious illness or death when there is someone right there who can make them better,” Mokhiber said.

Mokhiber, an independent, said he is hoping for a strong independent candidate to run in the campaign. Mokhiber has strongly advocated for a single-payer system similar to the one in Canada, that would eliminate the current insurance system in America.

“The system is a pay or die system. The system can fix you,” Mokhiber said. “These are operations that have been perfected over the last 20 years. ... Today you get an operation and you live, unless you can’t afford it.”

The new health care law passed by Democrats at the urging of President Barack Obama, Mokhiber said, is not the solution either.

“We believe that Obama’s law is going to lead to more pain and suffering, not less, because it keeps insurance companies in the game,” Mokhiber said.

Mokhiber said he and others calling for Capito’s resignation will be campaigning through all 18 counties, going to newspapers, Internet sources (www.capitoresign.org) and other places to educate people “about what she did and what she is doing.”

In addition to the vote on the Ryan budget plan, Mokhiber said he believes Capito is flawed in other ways.

“It’s not only for her vote on this, also, she generally has a tendency to side with the lobbyist and corporate powers in Washington over the people in her district,” Mokhiber said.