Patricia Rucker

Patricia Rucker

Republican Party

West Virginia State Senate District 16

Tenure

2016 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

8

Compensation

Base salary

$20,000/year

Per diem

$75/day for members who commute daily. $175/day for members who do not commute daily.

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Personal

Religion

Christian: Catholic

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

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Patricia Rucker (Republican Party) is a member of the West Virginia State Senate, representing District 16. She assumed office in 2016. Her current term ends on December 1, 2028.

Rucker (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the West Virginia State Senate to represent District 16. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Rucker was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Health and Human Resources Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate Outdoor Recreation Committee
• Senate School Choice Committee, Chair

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2021-2022

Rucker was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Committee
• Senate Banking and Insurance Committee
• Senate Education Committee, Chair
• Confirmations Committee
• Senate Health and Human Resources Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Natural Resources Committee

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2019-2020

Rucker was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Banking and Insurance Committee
• Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Committee
• Senate Education Committee, Chair
• Senate Health and Human Resources Committee
• Natural Resources Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Workforce Committee

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2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

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.

Noteworthy events

Removal as Education Committee chairwoman (2022)

On August 31, 2022, Rucker announced she would challenge incumbent Senate President Craig Blair (R) for his leadership position. Later that day, Blair removed Rucker as chairwoman of the Education Committee and named Sen. Amy Nichole Grady (R) as the new chairwoman.

Rucker said she was running because "we have failed in making progress on key Republican priorities like reducing taxes and protecting life, which to me is so very important and front and center to what we should be doing.” Blair said of Rucker's challenge: "This is a little bit of a power play that has no power in it at all. We’re going to continue doing the right thing for the people of West Virginia. Nobody can argue the success that we’ve had pushing down on the accelerator."

Rucker ended her campaign for Senate President on November 22, 2022.

In the 2024 election, state Del. Paul Espinosa (R) challenged Rucker in the Republican primary. Four senators—including Blair—accompanied Espinosa as he filed his candidacy. Rucker defeated Espinosa 51.1%–48.9%.

Elections

2024

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for West Virginia State Senate District 16

Incumbent Patricia Rucker defeated John Doyle in the general election for West Virginia State Senate District 16 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patricia Rucker (R)	60.6	29,220
		John Doyle (D)	39.4	19,013

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 48,233
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 16

John Doyle advanced from the Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 16 on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Doyle	100.0	4,431

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,431
= 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 16

Incumbent Patricia Rucker defeated Paul Espinosa in the Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 16 on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patricia Rucker	51.1	5,193
		Paul Espinosa	48.9	4,963

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,156
= 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.

Endorsements

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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Rucker in this election.

2020

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for West Virginia State Senate District 16

Incumbent Patricia Rucker defeated Pete Dougherty in the general election for West Virginia State Senate District 16 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patricia Rucker (R)	51.8	25,582
		Pete Dougherty (D)	48.2	23,768

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 49,350
= 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 16

Pete Dougherty advanced from the Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 16 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Dougherty	100.0	9,763

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,763
= 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 16

Incumbent Patricia Rucker advanced from the Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 16 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patricia Rucker	100.0	7,798

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,798
= 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.

2016

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the West Virginia State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 10, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was January 30, 2016. Incumbent Herb Snyder (D) did not seek re-election.

Patricia Rucker defeated Stephen Skinner in the West Virginia State Senate District 16 general election.

West Virginia State Senate District 16, General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Patricia Rucker	52.79%	22,499
	Democratic	Stephen Skinner	47.21%	20,122
Total Votes				42,621
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State

Stephen Skinner defeated David Manthos in the West Virginia State Senate District 16 Democratic primary.

West Virginia State Senate District 16, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Stephen Skinner	67.21%	6,904
	Democratic	David Manthos	32.79%	3,368
Total Votes				10,272

Patricia Rucker defeated Joe Funkhouser in the West Virginia State Senate District 16 Republican primary.

West Virginia State Senate District 16, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Patricia Rucker	55.95%	5,359
	Republican	Joe Funkhouser	44.05%	4,219
Total Votes				9,578

This district was included in the Republican State Leadership Committee's list of "16 in '16: Races to Watch." Read more »
This district was included in the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's list of "2016 Essential Races." Read more »

2014

See also: West Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2014

Elections for the West Virginia House of Delegates took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 13, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was January 25, 2014. Incumbent Stephen Skinner was unopposed in the Democratic primary. W. Matthew Harris was defeated by Patricia Rucker in the Republican primary. Skinner defeated Rucker in the general election.

West Virginia House of Delegates District 67, General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Stephen Skinner Incumbent	51.3%	2,636
	Republican	Patricia Rucker	48.7%	2,503
Total Votes				5,139

West Virginia House of Delegates, District 67 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Patricia Rucker	68.8%	430
W. Matthew Harris	31.2%	195
Total Votes		625

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Patricia Rucker did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Patricia Rucker did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

Rucker's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	Education is a Core Concern Education is a top priority for me, and I am running to fight the status quo and push for changes that we need to make. A vote for me is a vote against Common Core, for parental rights, more local control of education and much needed reform. Fairer Tax Structure for WV I am for tax relief for citizens and business alike. We need a lower, fairer tax structure. We need to reduce waste in government spending. The burden of state government must be reduced so that there is greater freedom and liberty for all. You deserve representation in Charleston that is responsible and responsive. I would be grateful for your support so that we can work together to get West Virginia on the right track. Together we can get our economy growing, creating jobs and prosperity for all West Virginians.	”
—Patricia Rucker

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Patricia Rucker campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	West Virginia State Senate District 16	Won general	$0	$0
2020	West Virginia State Senate District 16	Won general	$203,271	N/A**
2016	West Virginia State Senate, District 16	Won	$94,324	N/A**
Grand total			$297,595	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Endorsements

2016

In 2016, Rucker's endorsements included the following:

• West Virginia Bankers Association Political Action Committee
• West Virginia Citizens Defense League
• West Virginians for Life Political Action Committee
• Eastern Panhandle Business Association
• West Virginia Business & Industry Council (BIC)

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in West Virginia

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].
In 2023, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 11. Americans for Prosperity Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].
In 2022, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 12 to March 12. West Virginia Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from February 10 to April 10. Americans for Prosperity Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues. West Virginia Manufacturers Association Legislators are scored on their votes on the manufacturing industry. West Virginia Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].

In 2020, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 7. ACLU West Virginia Legislators are scored on their votes on civil liberties issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. West Virginia Citizen's Defense League Legislators are scored on their votes on firearms issues. West Virginia Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].
In 2019, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 9. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.

2018

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show].
In 2018, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 10 through March 10. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues. West Virginia Citizen's Defense League Legislators are scored on their votes on firearms issues.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].

In 2017, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from February 8 through April 9. The legislature held a special session from May 4 to June 26. The legislature held its second special session from August 1 to September 15. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].
In 2016, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 13 through March 12. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	West Virginia State Senate District 16 2016-Present	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the West Virginia State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Tom Takubo

Minority Leader:Mike Woelfel

Senators

District 1

Laura Wakim Chapman (R)

Ryan Weld (R)

District 2

Charles Clements (R)

Christopher Rose (R)

District 3

Mike Azinger (R)

Donna Boley (R)

District 4

Amy Grady (R)

Eric Tarr (R)

District 5

Scott Fuller (R)

Mike Woelfel (D)

District 6

Craig Hart (R)

Mark Maynard (R)

District 7

Rupie Phillips (R)

Mike Stuart (R)

District 8

Mark Hunt (R)

Glenn Jeffries (R)

District 9

Brian Helton (R)

Rollan Roberts (R)

District 10

Vince Deeds (R)

Jack Woodrum (R)

District 11

William Hamilton (R)

Robbie Morris (R)

District 12

Patrick Martin (R)

Ben Queen (R)

District 13

Joey Garcia (D)

Mike Oliverio (R)

District 14

Randy Smith (R)

Jay Taylor (R)

District 15

Charles Trump (R)

Tom Willis (R)

District 16

Jason Barrett (R)

Patricia Rucker (R)

District 17

Eric Nelson (R)

Tom Takubo (R)

Republican Party (32)

Democratic Party (2)