West Virginia State Senate elections, 2024
| 2024 West Virginia Senate Elections | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Primary | May 14, 2024 |
| General | November 5, 2024 |
| Past Election Results |
| 2022・2020・2018・2016・2014 2012・2010・2008 |
| 2024 Elections | |
|---|---|
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Elections for the West Virginia State Senate took place in 2024. The general election was on November 5, 2024. The primary was May 14, 2024. The filing deadline was January 27, 2024.
Following the election, Republicans maintained a 32-2 veto-proof majority.
The West Virginia State Senate was one of 85 state legislative chambers with elections in 2024. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.
Party control
| West Virginia State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2024 | After November 6, 2024 | |
| Democratic Party | 3 | 2 | |
| Republican Party | 31 | 32 | |
| Total | 34 | 34 | |
Candidates
General election
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West Virginia State Senate general election 2024
- Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office Democratic
Republican
Other District 1
Ryan Weld (i)
District 2 District 3
District 4 District 5 District 6 Did not make the ballot:
Randall Fowler
David Sartin (Independent)
District 7
District 8
District 9 District 10
Lee Forbes (Independent) (Write-in)
District 11 District 12
District 13 Did not make the ballot:
Jonathan Board
District 14
Betsy Orndoff-Sayers (Mountain Party)
District 15 District 16
District 17
Primary
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West Virginia State Senate primary 2024
- Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
Office Other District 1 The Democratic primary was canceled.
Scott Adams
Did not make the ballot:
Mark Zatezalo
District 2 The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 3 The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 4 District 5 District 6 District 7 The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 8 The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 9 Did not make the ballot:
David Stover (i)
District 10 The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 11 District 12 The Democratic primary was canceled.
District 13
District 14 The Democratic primary was canceled.
Mountain Party
District 15 District 16 District 17 Voting information
- See also: Voting in West Virginia
General election race ratings
The table below displays race ratings for each race in this chamber from CNalysis.
Incumbents who did not advance to the general election
Incumbents defeated in primaries
Four incumbents lost in primaries. This was the most incumbent primary defeats in an election cycle since Ballotpedia began tracking the statistic in 2010.
| Name | Party | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Maroney |  Republican |
Senate District 2 |
| Chandler Swope | Republican |
Senate District 6 |
| Robert Karnes | Republican |
Senate District 11 |
| Craig Blair | Republican |
Senate District 15 |
Retiring incumbents
Three incumbents did not file for re-election in 2024.[1] This is more than the average of 2.7 retiring incumbents per cycle from 2010 to 2022. Those incumbents were:
| Name | Party | Office |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Plymale |  Democratic |
Senate District 5 |
| David Stover | Republican |
Senate District 9 |
| Michael Caputo | Democratic |
Senate District 13 |
Primary election competitiveness
This section contains data on state legislative primary election competitiveness in West Virginia. These totals include data from all regularly-scheduled House and Senate elections. For more information about Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.
Post-filing deadline analysis
The following analysis covers all state legislative districts up for election in West Virginia in 2024. Information below was calculated on April 8, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.
There were 49 contested state legislative primaries in West Virginia in 2024, the fewest total since 2014. On average, there were 58 contested primaries each election year from 2014-2022.
One contributing factor was the limited number of Democratic primaries (four) in 2024. From 2014-2022, there was an average of 22.2 contested Democratic primaries in each cycle. The number of Republican primaries in 2024 (45) was higher than the average of 35.6 over that same span.
The total number of filed candidates (244) also declined in 2024 compared to the 2014-2022 average (303). There were 38 candidates for the Senate (28 Republicans, 9 Democrats, and one Mountain Party) and 208 candidates for the House (145 Republicans, 62 Democrats, and one Libertarian).
Seventeen of the 34 Senate seats and all 100 House seats were up for election in 2024.
Open seats
The table below shows the number and percentage of open seats in the West Virginia State Senate from 2010 to 2024.[2]
| Open Seats in West Virginia State Senate elections: 2010 - 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total seats | Open seats | Seats with incumbents running for re-election |
| 2024 | 17 | 3 (18 percent) | 14 (82 percent) |
| 2022 | 17 | 4 (24 percent) | 17 (76 percent) |
| 2020 | 17 | 4 (24 percent) | 13 (76 percent) |
| 2018 | 17 | 0 (0 percent) | 17 (100 percent) |
| 2016 | 18 | 4 (22 percent) | 14 (78 percent) |
| 2014 | 17 | 2 (12 percent) | 15 (88 percent) |
| 2012 | 17 | 3 (18 percent) | 14 (82 percent) |
| 2010 | 17 | 3 (18 percent) | 14 (82 percent) |
Legislative referrals
- See also: Legislative referral
A legislative referral, or legislatively referred ballot measure, is a ballot measure that appears on the ballot due to a vote of the state legislature. A legislative referral can be a constitutional amendment, state statute, or bond issue.
As of the 2024 election, a two-thirds vote was required during one legislative session for the West Virginia State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 67 votes in the West Virginia House of Representatives and 23 votes in the West Virginia State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments did not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
At the time of the 2024 election, Republicans held a 31-3 majority in the Senate and a 88-11-1 majority in the House. Democrats needed to win 20 Senate seats and 56 House seats to be able to pass legislative referrals without Republican votes. Republicans needed to lose 9 Senate seats and 22 House seats to lose the same ability.
Process to become a candidate
See statutes: Chapter 3, Article 5 of the West Virginia Code
Political party candidates
Before raising money for a campaign, a candidate must file a pre-candidacy registration form. The form must identify a campaign treasurer, who will be responsible for the campaign's financial transactions. A candidate must file a certificate of announcement declaring his or her candidacy with the West Virginia Secretary of State. The candidate must pay a filing fee, which is calculated as a percentage of the salary of the office sought. The candidate must also file a financial disclosure statement with the West Virginia Ethics Commission within 10 days of filing the certificate of announcement.[3][4][5]
Independent candidates
An independent candidate must gain authorization to collect petition signatures by obtaining an official credentials form from the county clerk in each county in which the candidate wishes to collect signatures. This form must be presented to each voter canvassed or solicited.[3][6]
The candidate must obtain a candidate nomination petition at the time of gaining authorization. The candidate must obtain signatures equaling at least 1 percent of the entire vote cast at the last preceding general election for the office being sought (or at least 25 signatures).[3][7][8]
The candidate must file the certificate of announcement and nominating petition with the appropriate office. An independent candidate must also pay a filing fee (the same as that paid by political party candidates).[3][9]
Write-in candidates
A write-in candidate must file a certificate of announcement with the West Virginia Secretary of State. Write-in candidates are not listed on the ballot, but a list of official write-in candidates is posted at each polling place during early voting and on Election Day.[3]
A write-in candidate is not required to pay a filing fee or collect signatures.[3]
Qualifications
Section 13 of Article 6 of the West Virginia Constitution states, "No person holding any other lucrative office or employment under this state, the United States, or any foreign government; no member of Congress; and no person who is sheriff, constable, or clerk of any court of record, shall be eligible to a seat in the Legislature."
Salaries and per diem
- See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
| State legislative salaries, 2024[10] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $20,000/year | $75/day for members who commute daily. $175/day for members who do not commute daily. |
When sworn in
West Virginia legislators assume office on the first day of December following their election.[11]
West Virginia political history
Trifectas
A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.
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[12] | 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 |
Presidential politics in West Virginia
2020
- See also: Presidential election, 2020
Presidential election in West Virginia, 2020
Candidate/Running mate |
% |
Popular votes |
Electoral votes |
||
| ✔ |
 
| Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R) |
68.6
|
545,382 | 5 |
 
| Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D) |
29.7
|
235,984 | 0 | |
 
| Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (L) |
1.3
|
10,687 | 0 | |
 
| Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (Mountain Party of West Virginia) |
0.3
|
2,599 | 0 | |
 |
Total votes: 794,652 |
2016
- See also: Presidential election, 2016
| U.S. presidential election, West Virginia, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine | 26.4% | 188,794 | 0 | |
| Republican | Donald Trump/Mike Pence |
68.5% | 489,371 | 5 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson/Bill Weld | 3.2% | 23,004 | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka | 1.1% | 8,075 | 0 | |
| Constitution | Darrell Lane Castle/Scott Bradley | 0.5% | 3,807 | 0 | |
| - | Other/Write-in | 0.2% | 1,372 | 0 | |
| Total Votes | 714,423 | 5 | |||
| Election results via: Federal Election Commission | |||||
West Virginia presidential election results (1900-2024)
- 15 Democratic wins
- 17 Republican wins
| Year | 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Party | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | D | D | D | R | D | D | R | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia defines an incumbent as retiring if the incumbent did not file for office or filed for office but withdrew, was disqualified, or otherwise left a race in a manner other than losing the primary, primary runoff, or convention. If an incumbent runs as a write-in candidate, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring. If an incumbent runs in the same chamber for a different seat, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring.
- ↑ Ballotpedia defines a seat as open if the incumbent did not file to run for re-election or filed but withdrew and did not appear on any ballot for his or her seat. If the incumbent withdrew from or did not participate in the primary but later chose to seek re-election to his or her seat as a third party or independent candidate, the seat would not be counted as open. If the incumbent retired or ran for a different seat in the same chamber, his or her original seat would be counted as open unless another incumbent from the same chamber filed to run for that seat, in which case it would not be counted as open due to the presence of an incumbent.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 West Virginia Secretary of State, "Running for Office in West Virginia," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-8-5(e)," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-5-8," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-5-23," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-5-23," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-5-24," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ West Virginia Code, "Chapter 3-5-8," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑ West Virginia Constitution, "Article IV, Section 7," accessed February 9, 2021
- ↑ Gov. Jim Justice switched his registration to Republican on August 4, 2017.
