By james art 
While Republicans lead in the governorship and U.S. Senate races, some state legislative races are bigger questions because of West Virginia’s growing number of independent voters and potential split-ticket voting.
In the Eastern Panhandle, changing population demographics — it’s one of the few parts of the state growing — could move the area from deep red to purple. And in Mingo County, another election gibberish may lead to legal challenge.
Seventeen Senate seats are up for grabs across West Virginia, and all House of Delegates seats are up for election this year.
Democrats make up 14 of the 134 members of the Legislative Assembly. The red wave c A house and Senate followed by nearly 80 years of Democratic control.
Tony Hodge, co-chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, said he predicts Republicans will only gain seats in the House, adding to the super majority.
“Our majority will continue to increase, that’s what we think,” Hodge said. “Local races affect our lives in a big way… It affects the amount of money that goes into our schools and local infrastructure projects. We have to get people to vote all the way.”
Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin said that while Democratic registrations were down, the state’s growing number of independent voters likely to help add to the 11 Democrats in the House.
“Independents are the fastest growing voting bloc in the state. Many of them are young, voting for the first time. They’re less likely to be moved by divisive culture war issues, and that’s all Republicans seem to be running on,” he said.
Pushkin pointed to high-profile bills that took up much of the 2024 legislative session, including “The Women’s Rights Act”, which would have narrowed the definition of gender in state law but in the end it didn’t go through.
Here’s a closer look at the races and issues to watch in West Virginia on Election Day.
Democrats are trying to reverse dwindling numbers in the legislature
Despite the state’s Republican stronghold, Democrats vying for House and Senate seats could win Tuesday, according to state legislative race analyst Chaz Nutticomb. He manages a race prediction site, cnalysis.comwhich relies on data from past elections and experts in the state.
“A lot of West Virginians like to split their Democratic ticket. This is the friendliest state for non-voting Democrats of anywhere in the nation,” Nutticombe said. “Voters are increasingly leaning Republican in federal races, but they still want to vote for Democrats in their districts.”
Nuttycombe’s analysis predicted that Democrats and members of the House Dels. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, and Rick Griffith, D-Wayne, are likely to win their Senate races and retain those seats as Democrats.
It’s the friendliest state for Democrats who didn’t vote, compared to anywhere in the nation.
– Chaz Nuttycombe, state legislative race analyst
Pushkin is also a member of the Chamber in the 54th district. He said a major problem with the Republican supermajority is that members can discuss details of the bill in caucuses that are shielded from the public and reporters.
“Too many decisions are made in closed-door meetings,” he said.
Linda Boddy is a Democrat running for the 55th District against the incumbent Del. JB AkersR-Kanawha.
“We need to have more balance so we can make things better and not focus on issues that don’t really matter because that’s what a country wants to focus on instead of making things better for everyone.” she said.
With Republicans strongly supporting school choice in the state, including charter school expansion and the state education savings programmany Democratic Party candidates did support for struggling public schools a focal point of the campaign. The majority of children in West Virginia attend public schools.
“Education is the foundation of everything. Public education doesn’t have the resources it used to have, and that money is being drained away,” said Boddy, 55. “Getting our public education system back with funding is a top priority.”
Forty Republicans running for House seats are unopposed, and Hodge said he expects them to pick up additional seats in the House. Two Democrats are running unopposed in Monongalia County.
Eastern Panhandle Potential “Purple”
The East Panhandle state’s changing population demographics and growing number of independent voters could make the district more purple than red after this election.
Currently, the district’s eight counties (Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardee, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan and Pendleton) are represented by Republicans in the House and Senate.
“We have strong feelings about the Eastern Ribbon. We have a lot of Republican registrations there,” Hodge said.
Republican Chris Anders and Democrat Lucia Valentine are on the ballot for representative of the 97th District, which includes Berkeley and Jefferson counties. Incumbent Rep. John Hardy, R-Berkeley, did not search re-election. The area has seen stable early voter turnoutmostly Republican, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
“People live here and have lived here because of the West Virginia lifestyle, and they’re worried about that changing,” said Anders, 53, who said he’s knocked on 5,000 doors this campaign.
Both candidates have targeted independent voters. In Jefferson County, there are 15,386 voters registered as “no party,” compared to 16,661 Republicans and 12,255 Democrats.
“I really wanted to talk to those people in the middle, hoping that they would like my message,” said Valentine, 28, whose platform includes responsible growth that takes into account environmental impact and assessing the availability of water in the area.
“It’s such a purple area now… Even if they’re more right-wing, we want to show that we’re the party of common sense,” she said. Valentin surpassed Anders in fundraisingwith more than $81,000 in contributions compared to his $38,336, according to the latest report on the Secretary of State’s website.
She and Anders said they constantly heard about the district’s growth during the campaign, which has caused overcrowded schools, problems with access to health care and infrastructure problems.
While West Virginia’s overall population has been declining, three of its counties — Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan — have seen the largest population increases of any region in the state in recent decades. Job growth and more people choosing to live in the area to commute to Washington, D.C. fueled population growth; a This is what the West Virginia University report says the area’s population is younger and has a higher proportion of residents with college degrees than the state as a whole.
Anders had his say campaign focuses on protecting the Second Amendment and reducing government. He wants to help residents afford to stay in the area.
“I believe we should abolish the income tax immediately and Tax rain in Berkeley County” he said. “People need their money back so they can take care of themselves.”
Valentine said one of the area’s pressing needs is to help farmers protect and maintain their land amid housing development.
“A lot of farmers are selling because they feel they can’t make a profit anymore,” she said. “I want to support them economically so they feel like their only option is not to sell.”
Other Eastern Panhandle House seats are on local ballots, as are three Senate seats that represent parts of the district, including District 3, where Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, lost his primary race to Tom Willis. He was one of four state senators who lost their primary races to the incumbents.
Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, narrowly won the Republican primary and now faces former House of Delegates Democrat John Doyle for the 16th District.
Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, whose 14th District includes some East Panhandle counties, is running unopposed.
The Multiple Voting Glitch in Mingo County
Mingo County has seen a few hiccups this election season, including a candidate challenge the election results and, more recently, a Democratic candidate for state Senate disrupted early voting.
Jeff DiSibio, Democrat, 6th District Candidate, was absent by mistake of hundreds of early voting ballots in Mingo County. Early voting began on October 23, and 673 people had already voted with the defective ballot. The ballots have since been corrected. The Secretary of State’s office is investigating but has no plans to correct ballots already submitted.
That’s what the State Democratic Party said that it would “exhaust all legal options to ensure that the integrity of our democratic process is respected”.
DiSibio is running against Craig Hart, a Republican who defeated incumbent Sen. Chandler Swope in the May primary by 463 votes.
Swope, R-Mercer, legally challenge the election results, saying in part that Democrats were allowed to vote in the Republican primary and that there were other irregularities at the polls.
About 200 Democrats were found to have voted incorrectly in that race. Swope withdrew the August challenge.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 5. Pools open at 6:30am and close at 7:30pm. West Virginia Watch will have election results live on our website.
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