West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House West Virginia District 2

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Alexander Mooney (R)	54.0	110,504
		Talley Sergent (D)	43.0	88,011
		Daniel Lutz Jr. (Mountain Party)	3.1	6,277

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 204,792 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= 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.

Elections in West Virginia, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 16
• Early voting: Oct. 24 - Nov. 3
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 5

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: No
• Voter ID: Non-photo ID required
• Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

---

On the ballot: U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • House of Delegates • Supreme court • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • Democratic primaries • Republican primaries

2020 → ← 2016
West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: January 27, 2018
Primary: May 8, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent: Alex Mooney (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voting in West Virginia
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd West Virginia elections, 2018 U.S. Congress elections, 2018 U.S. Senate elections, 2018 U.S. House elections, 2018 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 2nd Congressional District of West Virginia, held elections in 2018.

Heading into the election the incumbent was Alexander Mooney (R), who was first elected in 2014.

West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District is located in the central portion of the state and includes Berkely, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Hampshire, Hardy, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Morgan, Pendleton, Putnam, Randolph, Roane, Upshur, and Wirt counties.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House West Virginia District 2

Incumbent Alexander Mooney defeated Talley Sergent and Daniel Lutz Jr. in the general election for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Alexander Mooney (R)	54.0	110,504
		Talley Sergent (D)	43.0	88,011
		Daniel Lutz Jr. (Mountain Party)	3.1	6,277

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 204,792 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= 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 U.S. House West Virginia District 2

Talley Sergent defeated Aaron Scheinberg in the Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Talley Sergent	62.6	29,457
		Aaron Scheinberg	37.4	17,620

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 47,077
= 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 U.S. House West Virginia District 2

Incumbent Alexander Mooney advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Alexander Mooney

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= 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.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+17, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 17 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District the 68th most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.04. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.04 points toward that party.

Race background

West Virginia's 2nd District was listed as one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's initial targets in 2018.

Campaign contributions

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Alexander Mooney	Republican Party	$1,837,747	$1,246,402	$1,022,068	As of December 31, 2018
Talley Sergent	Democratic Party	$705,197	$683,790	$21,407	As of December 31, 2018
Daniel Lutz Jr.	Mountain Party	$2,230	$2,121	$58	As of November 13, 2018
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

District history

2016

See also: West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Alex Mooney (R) won election to his second term, defeating Mark Hunt (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Mooney defeated Marc Savitt in the Republican primary, while Hunt defeated Tom Payne, Harvey Peyton, Cory Simpson, and Robert Wilson Jr. to win the Democratic nomination. The primary elections took place on May 10, 2016.

U.S. House, West Virginia District 2 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Alexander Mooney Incumbent	58.2%	140,807
	Democratic	Mark Hunt	41.8%	101,207
Total Votes				242,014
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State

U.S. House, West Virginia District 2 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Alexander Mooney Incumbent	73.1%	45,839
Marc Savitt	26.9%	16,849
Total Votes		62,688
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State

U.S. House, West Virginia District 2 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mark Hunt	29.1%	21,296
Cory Simpson	26.2%	19,180
Tom Payne	20.8%	15,250
Harvey Peyton	15.2%	11,143
Robert Wilson	8.7%	6,344
Total Votes		73,213
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State

2014

See also: West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2014

The 2nd Congressional District of West Virginia held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Alex Mooney (R) defeated Nick Casey (D), Davy Jones (L) and Ed Rabel (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, West Virginia, District 2 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Alex Mooney	47.1%	72,042
	Democratic	Nick Casey	43.9%	67,210
	Libertarian	Davy Jones	5%	7,614
	Independent	Ed Rabel	4.1%	6,226
Total Votes				153,092
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

There are no pivot counties in West Virginia. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won West Virginia with 68.5 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 26.4 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, West Virginia cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 76.7 percent of the time. In that same time frame, West Virginia supported Democratic and Republican candidates for president equally. West Virginia favored Republicans in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in West Virginia. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won four out of 67 state House districts in West Virginia with an average margin of victory of 13.9 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won one out of 67 state House districts in West Virginia with an average margin of victory of 34.4 points.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 63 out of 67 state House districts in West Virginia with an average margin of victory of 31.9 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 66 out of 67 state House districts in West Virginia with an average margin of victory of 46.8 points.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin
1	38.66%	59.24%	R+20.6	25.73%	70.07%	R+44.3
2	43.53%	53.67%	R+10.1	26.82%	68.57%	R+41.8
3	38.13%	59.95%	R+21.8	31.23%	61.44%	R+30.2
4	34.84%	62.82%	R+28	22.30%	72.79%	R+50.5
5	37.10%	59.96%	R+22.9	21.34%	72.50%	R+51.2
6	24.34%	73.40%	R+49.1	13.41%	82.40%	R+69
7	25.92%	71.64%	R+45.7	15.48%	79.75%	R+64.3
8	31.00%	67.36%	R+36.4	22.69%	72.65%	R+50
9	28.50%	69.28%	R+40.8	16.29%	79.48%	R+63.2
10	35.08%	63.29%	R+28.2	25.67%	68.91%	R+43.2
11	35.37%	62.24%	R+26.9	21.70%	73.73%	R+52
12	32.85%	64.70%	R+31.8	20.88%	74.86%	R+54
13	37.29%	60.44%	R+23.2	22.25%	73.24%	R+51
14	36.92%	60.40%	R+23.5	21.70%	74.02%	R+52.3
15	27.42%	71.38%	R+44	24.68%	70.30%	R+45.6
16	45.42%	52.58%	R+7.2	36.10%	58.50%	R+22.4
17	41.90%	56.20%	R+14.3	36.22%	57.71%	R+21.5
18	33.21%	65.14%	R+31.9	25.32%	70.41%	R+45.1
19	34.79%	62.73%	R+27.9	20.73%	75.06%	R+54.3
20	28.25%	69.59%	R+41.3	15.85%	81.80%	R+66
21	23.29%	74.37%	R+51.1	11.15%	86.60%	R+75.4
22	30.74%	66.68%	R+35.9	20.35%	75.36%	R+55
23	34.16%	63.17%	R+29	21.99%	73.31%	R+51.3
24	28.83%	68.78%	R+40	17.02%	79.79%	R+62.8
25	21.56%	76.17%	R+54.6	14.28%	82.66%	R+68.4
26	35.91%	62.18%	R+26.3	26.16%	71.47%	R+45.3
27	25.92%	72.27%	R+46.4	21.03%	75.08%	R+54.1
28	26.07%	71.78%	R+45.7	19.24%	76.85%	R+57.6
29	25.31%	72.92%	R+47.6	18.95%	77.36%	R+58.4
30	39.04%	59.30%	R+20.3	35.16%	60.01%	R+24.9
31	21.85%	76.00%	R+54.1	15.19%	81.82%	R+66.6
32	36.36%	61.52%	R+25.2	26.42%	69.21%	R+42.8
33	33.20%	63.50%	R+30.3	18.96%	76.87%	R+57.9
34	41.41%	56.61%	R+15.2	25.67%	69.81%	R+44.1
35	44.95%	53.41%	R+8.5	41.19%	53.74%	R+12.6
36	43.56%	54.69%	R+11.1	36.13%	59.51%	R+23.4
37	71.16%	27.03%	D+44.1	64.48%	30.08%	D+34.4
38	33.64%	64.92%	R+31.3	28.33%	66.88%	R+38.6
39	29.70%	68.75%	R+39	23.71%	72.37%	R+48.7
40	28.91%	69.53%	R+40.6	21.21%	74.29%	R+53.1
41	28.54%	69.10%	R+40.6	18.43%	77.35%	R+58.9
42	36.07%	61.44%	R+25.4	26.74%	67.94%	R+41.2
43	35.02%	62.41%	R+27.4	25.26%	69.66%	R+44.4
44	32.49%	64.18%	R+31.7	18.98%	77.03%	R+58.1
45	27.22%	70.71%	R+43.5	20.32%	74.67%	R+54.4
46	27.10%	70.21%	R+43.1	19.26%	76.24%	R+57
47	29.72%	67.43%	R+37.7	19.50%	75.68%	R+56.2
48	37.03%	60.90%	R+23.9	27.38%	67.16%	R+39.8
49	33.62%	64.28%	R+30.7	23.59%	71.48%	R+47.9
50	41.91%	55.61%	R+13.7	30.56%	63.37%	R+32.8
51	44.28%	53.14%	R+8.9	41.29%	50.56%	R+9.3
52	28.11%	69.35%	R+41.2	21.26%	73.45%	R+52.2
53	25.80%	70.92%	R+45.1	19.48%	75.52%	R+56
54	17.22%	80.84%	R+63.6	11.20%	86.53%	R+75.3
55	31.26%	66.11%	R+34.8	22.04%	74.29%	R+52.3
56	28.78%	68.67%	R+39.9	19.74%	76.02%	R+56.3
57	28.38%	69.28%	R+40.9	18.00%	78.03%	R+60
58	31.07%	66.90%	R+35.8	19.51%	76.36%	R+56.9
59	33.93%	64.29%	R+30.4	23.17%	72.02%	R+48.8
60	31.11%	66.98%	R+35.9	22.28%	72.32%	R+50
61	51.56%	46.41%	D+5.2	42.57%	51.91%	R+9.3
62	35.57%	62.29%	R+26.7	26.07%	68.69%	R+42.6
63	43.32%	54.43%	R+11.1	34.17%	60.32%	R+26.1
64	34.54%	63.40%	R+28.9	24.45%	70.26%	R+45.8
65	49.54%	48.66%	D+0.9	40.64%	52.92%	R+12.3
66	39.60%	58.18%	R+18.6	31.14%	63.51%	R+32.4
67	51.50%	46.02%	D+5.5	45.92%	48.19%	R+2.3
Total	35.54%	62.30%	R+26.8	26.48%	68.63%	R+42.2
Source: Daily Kos

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in West Virginia heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

• Following the 2016 elections, Democrats and Republicans each held one U.S. Senate seat in West Virginia.
• Republicans held all three U.S. House seats in West Virginia.

State executives

• As of September 2018, Republicans held six of nine state executive positions, and Democrats held one. Two state executive positions were held by nonpartisan officials.
• The governor of West Virginia was Republican Jim Justice. Justice won office in 2016 as a member of the Democratic Party.

State legislature

• Republicans controlled both chambers of the West Virginia State Legislature. They had a 63-35 majority in the state House and a 22-12 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

• West Virginia was a Republican trifecta, meaning that the Republican Party held the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature.

2018 elections

See also: West Virginia elections, 2018

West Virginia held elections for the following positions in 2018:

• The U.S. Senate seat held by Joe Manchin (D)
• All three U.S. House seats
• 17 of 34 state Senate seats
• All 100 state House seats
• Local judicial seats
• Local school board seats

Demographics

Demographic data for West Virginia
	West Virginia	U.S.
Total population:	1,841,053	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	24,038	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	93.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	3.3%	12.6%
Asian:	0.7%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	1.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	85%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	19.2%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$41,751	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	22.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in West Virginia. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, West Virginia's three largest cities were Charleston (pop. est. 49,138), Huntington (pop. est. 48,113), and Morgantown (pop. est. 30,855).

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in West Virginia from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the West Virginia Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in West Virginia every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), West Virginia 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	68.6%	Hillary Clinton	26.5%	42.1%
2012	Mitt Romney	62.3%	Barack Obama	35.5%	26.8%
2008	John McCain	55.7%	Barack Obama	42.6%	13.1%
2004	George W. Bush	56.1%	John Kerry	43.2%	12.9%
2000	George W. Bush	51.9%	Al Gore	45.6%	6.3%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2014

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in West Virginia from 2000 to 2014. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), West Virginia 2000-2014
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Shelley Moore Capito	62.1%	Natalie Tennant	34.5%	27.6%
2012	Joe Manchin III	60.6%	John Raese	36.5%	24.1%
2010	Joe Manchin III	53.5%	John Raese	43.4%	10.1%
2008	Jay Rockefeller	63.7%	Matthew Wolfe	36.3%	27.4%
2006	Robert Byrd	64.4%	John Raese	33.7%	30.7%
2002	Jay Rockefeller	63.1%	Jay Wolfe	36.9%	26.2%
2000	Robert Byrd	77.8%	David Gallaher	20.2%	57.6%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in West Virginia.

Election results (Governor), West Virginia 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Jim Justice	49.1%	Bill Cole	42.3%	6.8%
2012	Earl Ray Tomblin	50.5%	Bill Maloney	45.7%	4.8%
2011 (special election)	Earl Ray Tomblin	49.6%	Bill Maloney	47.1%	2.5%
2008	Joe Manchin III	69.8%	Russell Weeks	25.7%	44.1%
2004	Joe Manchin III	63.5%	Monty Warner	34.0%	29.5%
2000	Bob Wise	50.1%	Cecil Underwood	47.2%	2.9%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent West Virginia in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, West Virginia 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	3	100.0%	0	0.0%	R+3
2014	3	100.0%	0	0.0%	R+3
2012	2	66.7%	1	33.3%	R+1
2010	2	66.7%	1	33.3%	R+1
2008	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1
2006	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1
2004	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1
2002	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1
2000	1	33.3%	2	66.7%	D+1

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

West Virginia Party Control: 1992-2024
Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Seven years of Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

See also

• West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election (May 8, 2018 Democratic primary)
• West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election (May 8, 2018 Republican primary)
• United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2018

Footnotes

[show]

West Virginia's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Shelley Capito (R)

Joe Manchin (I)

Representatives

District 1

Carol Miller (R)

District 2

Alexander Mooney (R)

Republican Party (3)

Independent (1)