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2012 competitiveness in West Virginia state legislative elections
June 29, 2012
By Tyler King
MADISON, Wisconsin: West Virginia's legislative elections in 2012 are slightly more competitive than most of the country, based on Ballotpedia's Competitiveness index which captures the extent of electoral competitiveness exhibited in state legislative elections.
About the Competitiveness index:
The Ballotpedia state legislative competitive index looks at three factors: is the incumbent running for re-election in a district; if so, does he or she draw a primary challenge; and are there two major party candidates in the general election.
Ballotpedia's index is created by summing the three percentages and then dividing by three. Each state is given 1 point for each percentage. Then, the points are added up and divided by three to establish the index rating. 1 is least competitive and 100 equals most competitive.
The comprehensive 2012 state legislative competitive index will be released following the completion of the primaries in all 44 states with 2012 state legislative elections. It will examine all 6,015 state legislative seats that are up for election on November 6, 2012.
Once a state releases official primary candidate lists, Ballotpedia staff analyzes the data to determine primary competitiveness. All 44 states holding 2012 state legislative elections have been analyzed by Ballotpedia.
West Virginia in 2012:
West Virginia's filing deadline was on January 28, 2012. It was the 3rd state to be analyzed by Ballotpedia staff and the inclusion of its data brought the national index to 34.82 in 2012.
In West Virginia, there are 117 total state legislative seats with elections in 2012 and nearly all current incumbents are seeking re-election.
Of those 117, 17 are State Senate seats and 100 are State House seats. A total of 98 incumbents (83.8%) are seeking re-election this year. Just 37 (37.8%) incumbents running for re-election face primary opposition. Additionally, there are 8 (6.8%) districts where an incumbent did not seek re-election within that district. For November's general elections, there will be 81 (69.2%) seats where more than one major party candidate will appear on the ballot.
| Nationwide Index |
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| The current nationwide index is 36.90 • 44 states analyzed • (updated August 23, 2012) |
Comparison to 2010:
In 2010, West Virginia ranked 9th in overall competitiveness.
- 12.0% of Districts were open seats, decreasing to 6.8% in 2012.
- 55.3% of incumbents faced primary opposition, decreasing to 37.8% in 2012.
- 75.2% of Districts had more than one major party candidate in the general election, compared to 69.2% in 2012.
- West Virginia's 2010 competitiveness index was 47.5, compared to 37.93 in 2012.
See also
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| Propositions • | Recall | • Law |
- Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Analysis for 2012 (updated after each state's ballot access deadline)
- 2012 state legislative elections analyzed using a Competitiveness Index
- Primary competitiveness in 2012 state legislative elections
- Open seats in the 2012 state legislative elections
- Incumbents with no primary challenger in the 2012 state legislative elections
- Incumbents defeated in 2012's state legislative elections
- Challengers who defeated incumbents in 2012's state legislative elections
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