West Virginia’s primary election is here, and it kicks off a changing of the guard in state politics.
Joe Manchin, a Democrat who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2010, announced that he won’t pursue re-election.
Gov. Jim Justice, up against a term limit after serving two terms, is running for the Republican nomination for Senate. His main competitor is Congressman Alex Mooney, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2015. Democratic candidates are Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, Marine veteran Zach Shrewsbury and retired coal executive Don Blankenship.
The moves by Justice and Mooney mean the governor’s seat and one of two West Virginia congressional seats will certainly have new officeholders.
In the race for governor, three-term Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and two-term Secretary of State Mac Warner are among the candidates competing for the Republican nomination. Additional Republican competitors for governor are former Delegate Moore Capito and businessman Chris Miller. The Democrat in the race is Huntington Mayor Steve Williams.
The open Attorney General seat has drawn a vigorous competition between two-term Auditor J.B. McCuskey and state Senator Mike Stuart for the Republican nomination. Democratic candidates include Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva and former South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb.
Warner’s bid for governor has opened the secretary of state position to a competition among several candidates, including his own brother, former Republican Party Chairman Kris Warner of Charleston plus former Delegate Ken Reed of Hedgesville, former Delegate Doug Skaff of South Charleston, and Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood of Winfield. The Democrat in the race is Thornton Cooper of South Charleston.
McCuskey’s bid for attorney general has opened the auditor’s seat to Republican candidates including House Majority Leader Eric Householder of Martinsburg, who received McCuskey’s endorsement, plus former Delegate Caleb Hanna of Charleston, state Senator Mark Hunt and former Jefferson County Commissioner Tricia Jackson, who was forced off the commission via court order after several months of failing to attend meetings over an ongoing dispute. The Democrat in the race is Mary Ann Claytor, a St. Albans resident.
So each open seat on the electoral ladder has opened up additional seats. After the general election, West Virginia’s political landscape will look very different. This primary election gets that rolling.
Voting at the polls: Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Find your polling place on the state elections website or by contacting your county clerk’s office. Bring an approved ID.
Results: MetroNews will have coverage of statewide races starting at 7:06 p.m. Unofficial results will be updated regularly here.
The secretary of state’s office will update statewide results at Go Vote WV.
Key races:
- U.S. President
- U.S. Senate: one seat
- U.S. House: two seats
- Governor
- Attorney General
- Secretary of State
- Auditor
- Treasurer
- Agriculture Commissioner
- State Senate: 17 of 34 seats
- State House: All 100 seats
- State Supreme Court: Two seats
- State Intermediate Court: One seat
The only candidate for treasurer is Republican Larry Pack, a businessman and former delegate who has been serving as senior adviser and acting revenue secretary for Gov. Jim Justice. No Democrat filed to run for treasurer.
For agriculture commissioner, two-term incumbent Kent Leonhardt, a Republican, is running again for the seat. Former Delegate Joshua Higginbotham of Charleston is also running for the Republican nomination to the agriculture post. Roy Ramey of Lesage is another Republican in the race. The Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner is Deborah Stiles of Parsons.
Court races: Two justices to the West Virginia Supreme Court were selected before voting even began. Haley Bunn and Charles Trump were unopposed in their races for the high court. West Virginia judicial races are settled on the primary election schedule.
Bunn is an incumbent who was first appointed to the bench by Gov. Jim Justice in 2022 to fill an unexpired term. Now she’s running for a full 12-year term. Trump, a longtime legislator who has been the Senate Judiciary chairman, is the only candidate for the other Supreme Court seat on West Virginia ballots.
There is also competition for a seat on West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals. Candidates include Mychal Schulz, an attorney with the Babst Calland law firm in Charleston with decades of appellate experience; Elgine McArdle, a Wheeling attorney and former chairwoman of the West Virginia Republican Party; and Ryan White, a Charleston-based attorney and lobbyist.
Congress: Mooney’s bid for Senate has opened Republican competition for the 2nd District seat. The most prominent candidate is state Treasurer Riley Moore, and others include Joseph Earley of Bridgeport, Alexander Gaaserud of Parkersburg, Dennis “Nate” Cain of Hedgesville and Chris “Mookie” Walker of Martinsburg. The Democrat in the race is Steven Wendelin.
In the 1st Congressional District, which covers southern counties, incumbent Republican Congresswoman Carol Miller of Huntington defended the seat she won in 2018. Miller is a former state delegate.
Her Republican challenger is Derrick Evans of Prichard. Democrats in the congressional race include Chris Bob Reed of Charleston and Jim Umberger of Lewisburg.
Who can vote and how: Voters registered with one of the state’s four recognized political parties (Democratic, Libertarian, Mountain or Republican) can either vote that party’s ballot or the nonpartisan ballot. Voters registered with another party or with no party can choose which recognized party’s ballot they’d like or vote a nonpartisan ballot.
Identification requirements: Voters must present an acceptable form of ID, such as a driver’s license, U.S. passport, birth certificate, West Virginia hunting or fishing license, or voter registration card.
Historical voter turnout: Not that active. Turnout among eligible voters for the 2020 primary election was 36.53 percent. Turnout for the 2016 primary election was 39.9 percent. The 2012 primary turnout was 27.4 percent.
What’s turnout like this year? Not a blitz.
Through Saturday’s conclusion of the early voting period, an unofficial count by the secretary of state’s office showed 84,648 voters so far.
The statewide total of registered voters is 1,181,380. So early ballots were cast by about 7% of eligible voters.