Laura Wakim Chapman
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Laura Wakim Chapman (Republican Party) is a member of the West Virginia State Senate, representing District 1. She assumed office on December 1, 2022. Her current term ends on December 1, 2026.
Wakim Chapman (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the West Virginia State Senate to represent District 1. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Biography
Laura Wakim Chapman was born in Wheeling, West Virginia.[1] Chapman earned a B.A. from Middlebury College and a J.D. from the West Virginia University College of Law. Her career experience includes working as an attorney.[2]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Wakim Chapman was assigned to the following committees:
- Confirmations Committee, Vice Chair
- Senate Economic Development Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Health and Human Resources Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Military Committee
- Senate Outdoor Recreation Committee
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Elections
2026
See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for West Virginia State Senate District 1
Incumbent Laura Wakim Chapman is running in the general election for West Virginia State Senate District 1 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Laura Wakim Chapman (R) | |
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Endorsements
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Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2022
See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for West Virginia State Senate District 1
Laura Wakim Chapman defeated Randy Swartzmiller in the general election for West Virginia State Senate District 1 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Wakim Chapman (R) | 60.5 | 18,746 |
 | Randy Swartzmiller (D) | 39.5 | 12,258 | |
| Total votes: 31,004 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 1
Randy Swartzmiller defeated incumbent Owens Brown in the Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 1 on May 10, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Randy Swartzmiller | 53.4 | 3,554 |
 | Owens Brown | 46.6 | 3,097 | |
| Total votes: 6,651 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 1
Laura Wakim Chapman defeated Judi Varner Meyer in the Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 1 on May 10, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laura Wakim Chapman | 68.7 | 6,136 |
 | Judi Varner Meyer | 31.3 | 2,792 | |
| Total votes: 8,928 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Laura Wakim Chapman has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Laura Wakim Chapman, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
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2022
Laura Wakim Chapman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wakim Chapman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a constitutional lawyer and the mother two children. I am the daughter and granddaughter of veterans. I am pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-West Virginia energy. I am running to keep our children and grandchildren in West Virginia.
I am also pro-veteran and pro-police. I support our wonderful educators, first responders, and healthcare workers.
If elected, I pledge to you that every vote I cast will be for the betterment of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, and Marshall Counties. I won't let Charleston forget us!
- We need to fix our failing roads and expand broadband internet.
- We need opportunity and jobs. We need economic development for the Northern Panhandle.
- We need to have school security so that our children are protected.
I have many ideas to move our state forward. Here are a few of my ideas:
1) Meaningful tax reform to stop the crushing inflation on our families and retired men and women.
2) Decisions about education need to be made on the local level between our elected county school boards, teachers, and families. However, the legislature can help with funding for smaller class sizes for our children and educators, expansion of vocational and technical courses for our children, installation of security systems that are directly tied to local law enforcement departments, and hiring and training veterans to protect our vulnerable children. Each school should have a dedicated mental health professional to help with issues of bullying, etc.
3) Local medical care in the Northern Panhandle for our Veterans, with less bureaucratic red tape.
4) Prescription savings for our Seniors. Healthcare costs are out of control.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of West Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 11.
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See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2022
- ↑ West Virginia State Senate, "Laura Wakim Chapman," accessed February 24, 2023
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Owens Brown (D) |
West Virginia State Senate District 1 2022-Present |
Succeeded by - |
