West Virginia Attorney General election, 2016
|
← 2012
|
 |
May 10, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
Patrick Morrisey (R) |
Patrick Morrisey (R) |
Governor • Attorney General • Treasurer • Secretary of State Down Ballot Auditor • Agriculture Commissioner |
January 30, 2016 |
May 10, 2016 |
August 1, 2016 |
September 20, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
TBD |
January 16, 2017 |
West Virginia held an election for attorney general on November 8, 2016, with a primary on May 10. Incumbent Patrick Morrisey (R) won re-election to a second term.
Overview
The attorney general is the chief legal officer for the state of West Virginia, providing legal representation for all state agencies, officials, commissions and boards. At the time of the election, West Virginia had a divided government: Democrats hold the governorship while Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature. The state was under Democratic trifecta control from 2001 until 2014.
Incumbent Patrick Morrisey (R) ran for a second term in office. Morrisey was the first Republican to win the office of attorney general in West Virginia since 1928; he won election in 2012 by a margin of 2 percentage points. State Rep. Doug Reynolds was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The two competed with Karl Kolenich (Lib.) and Mountain Party candidate Michael Sharley in the November 8 general election. Morrisey won the general election on November 8, 2016.
Candidates
Patrick Morrisey (R)
Incumbent attorney general since 2013
Doug Reynolds (D)
State representative since 2006
Karl Kolenich (Lib.)
Private practice attorney
Michael Sharley (Mountain Party)
Private practice attorney
Results
General election
Incumbent Patrick Morrisey defeated Doug Reynolds, Karl Kolenich, and Michael Sharley in the West Virginia attorney general election.
| West Virginia Attorney General, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Patrick Morrisey Incumbent |
51.63% | 358,424 | |
| Democratic | Doug Reynolds | 41.95% | 291,232 | |
| Libertarian | Karl Kolenich | 3.46% | 24,023 | |
| Mountain Party | Michael Sharley | 2.95% | 20,475 | |
| Total Votes | 694,154 | |||
| Source: West Virginia Secretary of State | ||||
Primary elections
Democratic primary election
Doug Reynolds ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for attorney general.
| Democratic primary for Attorney General, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Doug Reynolds (unopposed) |
100.00% | 187,786 |
| Total Votes (1,745 of 1,745 precincts reporting) | 187,786 | |
| Source: MetroNews | ||
Republican primary election
Incumbent Patrick Morrisey ran unopposed in the Republican primary for attorney general.
| Republican primary for Attorney General, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Patrick Morrisey Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 157,369 |
| Total Votes (1,745 of 1,745 precincts reporting) | 157,369 | |
| Source: MetroNews | ||
Context of the 2016 election
Primary elections
A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should represent a political party in a general election. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. West Virginia utilizes a hybrid primary system. Parties decide who may vote. Both the Democratic and Republican parties allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their primaries.[1]
West Virginia's primary election took place on May 10, 2016.
Incumbent Patrick Morrisey (R)
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was elected in 2012 after narrowly defeating incumbent A.G. Darrell McGraw (D), who had previously served five terms, by a 2 percent margin of victory. Prior to his tenure as attorney general, Morrisey worked as a private practice attorney in Washington D.C. He is the first Republican attorney general in the state since 1932.[2]
Party control in West Virginia
West Virginia had a divided government at the time of the election: Democrats held the governorship, while Republicans controlled both chambers of the state legislature. The state had been under Democratic trifecta control from 2001 until the 2014 elections, when Republicans gained control of the House of Delegates and state Senate for the first time since the 1930s.
West Virginia had been represented by Democrats in the U.S. Senate from 1958 until the 2014 election, when Shelley Moore Capito (R) won the open seat. The state's electoral votes had gone to both Democrats and Republicans over the 30 years preceding 2016, though the Republican presidential candidate had won the state every four years since 2000.[3]
Morrisey was the first Republican to win the office of attorney general in West Virginia since Howard. B. Lee was elected to the position in 1928.[2] His election underscored the state's recent shift toward a more conservative ideology. Given the Republican stronghold on the state government and Morrisey's incumbency advantage, Democrats had little chance of winning back the seat in 2016.
Campaigns
Race tracking
| Race Ratings: Attorney General of West Virginia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race Tracker | Race Ratings | ||||||||
| Governing | Likely Republican | Lean Republican | |||||||
| Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season. | |||||||||
Campaign finance
| Click [show] to view full campaign finance details for this race. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
Campaign media
Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!
Democrats
|
Republicans
|
Third-party candidates
| Karl Kolenich (Lib.) | 
|
| Michael Sharley (Mountain) |  
|
About the office
The attorney general of West Virginia is an elected position within the West Virginia state government. The attorney general is the chief legal officer for the state of West Virginia, providing legal representation for all state agencies, officials, commissions, and boards. The office also writes legal opinions, enforces consumer protection laws, and represents individuals in civil rights cases.
| Helpful Facts About U.S. State Attorneys General |
|---|
|
Incumbent
The incumbent was Patrick Morrisey (R). He defeated long-serving incumbent Darrell McGraw (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.
Authority
The office of attorney general is established by Article VII of the West Virginia Constitution.
Article VII, Section 1:
| The executive department shall consist of a governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and attorney general... |
Qualifications
Article IV, Section 4 of the West Virginia Constitution establishes the qualifications of office as such:
|
No person, except citizens entitled to vote, shall be elected or appointed to any state, county or municipal office; but the governor and judges must have attained the age of thirty, and the attorney general and senators the age of twenty-five years, at the beginning of their respective terms of service; and must have been citizens of the state for five years next preceding their election or appointment, or be citizens at the time this constitution goes into operation. |
- at least 25 years old
- a citizen entitled to vote
- a resident of West Virginia for at least the preceding 5 years
Past elections
2012
Challenger Patrick Morrisey (R) defeated incumbent Darrell McGraw (D) in the November 6, 2012 general election.
| Attorney General of West Virginia General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Darrell McGraw Incumbent | 48.8% | 267,135 | |
| Republican | Patrick Morrisey |
51.2% | 280,695 | |
| Total Votes | 547,830 | |||
| Election results West Virginia Secretary of State Election Results Center | ||||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. won re-election to the office of West Virginia Attorney General. He defeated Daniel W. Greear (R) in the general election.
| West Virginia Attorney General, 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. |
50.4% | 342,011 | |
| Republican | Daniel W. Greear | 49.6% | 336,699 | |
| Total Votes | 678,710 | |||
| Election results via West Virginia Secretary of State. | ||||
2004
On November 2, 2004, Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. won re-election to the office of West Virginia Attorney General. He defeated Hiram Lewis, IV (R) in the general election.
| West Virginia Attorney General, 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. Incumbent |
50.4% | 359,491 | |
| Republican | Hiram Lewis, IV | 49.6% | 353,473 | |
| Total Votes | 712,964 | |||
| Election results via West Virginia Secretary of State. | ||||
2000
On November 7, 2000, Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. won re-election to the office of West Virginia Attorney General. He ran unopposed in the general election.
| West Virginia Attorney General, 2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. Incumbent |
100% | 465,047 | |
| Total Votes | 465,047 | |||
| Election results via West Virginia Secretary of State. | ||||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms West Virginia attorney general election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
State profile
| 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. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
West Virginia voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
More West Virginia coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in West Virginia
- United States congressional delegations from West Virginia
- Public policy in West Virginia
- Endorsers in West Virginia
- West Virginia fact checks
- More...
See also
|
West Virginia government: |
Previous elections: |
Ballotpedia exclusives: |
External links
- Office of the West Virginia Attorney General
- Duties and Responsibilities of the West Virginia Attorney General
- Divisions within the office of the West Virginia Attorney General
Footnotes
- ↑ Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 West Virginia Archives & History, "Attorney General of West Virginia," accessed April 12, 2016
- ↑ National Archives and Records Administration, "Historical Election Results," accessed September 24, 2016
- ↑ The Book of States, "Table 4.20: Qualifications for Office," last updated March 2012
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||
