Dwayne Russell

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Dwayne Russell

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Marshall University, 2000

Graduate

University of Kentucky, 2019

Personal

Birthplace

Point Pleasant, W.Va.

Religion

Lutheran - ELCA

Profession

Educator

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal YouTube

Personal LinkedIn

Dwayne Russell (Democratic Party) ran for election to the West Virginia State Senate to represent District 4. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Russell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Dwayne Russell was born in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He earned a bachelor's degree from Marshall University in 2000 and a graduate degree from the University of Kentucky in 2019. His career experience includes working as an educator. Russell has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• West Virginia Education Association (WVEA)
• National Education Association (NEA)
• West Virginia Music Educator's Association (WVMEA)
• National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
• American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA)
• Formerly Little Kids Rock (MusicWill)
• Association of Popular Music Education (APME)
• American Eurhythmics Association (AES)

Elections

2024

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for West Virginia State Senate District 4

Incumbent Amy Nichole Grady defeated Dwayne Russell in the general election for West Virginia State Senate District 4 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Amy Nichole Grady (R)	74.8	33,655
		Dwayne Russell (D)	25.2	11,343

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 44,998
= 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.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 4

Dwayne Russell advanced from the Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 4 on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dwayne Russell	100.0	4,217

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,217
= 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 West Virginia State Senate District 4

Incumbent Amy Nichole Grady advanced from the Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 4 on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Amy Nichole Grady	100.0	12,955

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,955
= 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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Russell in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dwayne Russell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Russell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in West Virginia, graduating from Wahama High School in 1995. I earned my Bachelors in music education from Marshall University in 2000 and my Masters in Music Education from University of Kentucky in 2019. I have two children, Sophia and Thaddeus. I am a music teacher at Beale Elementary in Gallipolis Ferry, WV. I am not only a proud member of WVEA, but I am president of my local education association. Shortly after becoming president, I helped lead our teachers in one of the largest teacher strikes our state has seen.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I am for public education first. Our schools are underfunded. Our teachers are underpaid. When we are working with a skeleton crew and limited resources, our state formula is causing cuts left and right. The money set aside for public education is getting funneled into homeschooling, charter schools, and private schools with little to no accountability and sometimes even out of state. This has to stop.
• I am pro union, obviously. Since becoming president of my education association, I have seen bills like "payroll protection" hurt our union. In my family, similar union busting bills like "right to work" have affected jobs, pay, and working conditions. Our state has a rich history of fighting for the rights of the working class and we cannot let anyone take those rights from us.
• I am pro choice. I do not believe any legislator or citizen has a right to get between a patient and her doctor. There are a multitude of reasons a patient may have to make that difficult decision and I will always fight for a person's right to privacy and their right to accessible healthcare.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I would love to see corporations chip in and pay their fair share of taxes to improve our schools, our roads, and other infrastructure advancements.

I am in favor of reasonable green energy when it is feasible. One of our greatest natural resources is our tourism and it must be protected.

I would love to see our service workers among many others, paid above the minimum living wage. I would love to see inflation and corporate profits come down to meet the poor working class in the middle. We West Virginians are a proud people and we deserve better.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Most of the people I look up to are gone now. I love how Joe Manchin led our state through greatness and I would love to help do my part.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

We must be honest and accountable. When I say I am for something, I truly mean it. You will know my position and know I will not flip flop around it to please the ones with the most money.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am honest. I cannot lie. I tell people that if they are not brave enough to hear the answer, they might want to rethink their question.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

I believe an elected official has the responsibility to remain steadfast in their elected convictions until the constituents voice their opinions otherwise.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would love for people to remember that I truly helped them and made a difference in their lives.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I seem to remember a baby stuck in a well. I do not remember how old I was but I remember my grandparents had an old well out back covered by a kitchen pot. We loved to take the pot off and hear our echo down it the well. I wondered if the baby liked to hear her voice in there too and wondered how she slipped and fell in such a small hole.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Governor's Summer Youth Program in Hartford, WV. It was only the one summer and I loved working with others and making the community better. Later, I found myself working as a ride host at Cedar Point. I worked there for three summers and loved seeing thousands of guests daily. I worked with so many people locally and internationally. The life lessons I learned in Sandusky, OH were immeasurable.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

I believe the majority of the work is to be done by the legislative branch and the governor has the final say.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

There are so many challenges we have to face together. Our cost of living is out of control but our opioid crisis takes the cake. These poor people were prescribed medications that ruined their lives. We have to help.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

I believe it is beneficial but not required.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

It is beneficial. Sharing concerns with others who may have another point of view or learned a point of view from another demographic is always beneficial.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

No, I would prefer to keep my work local. I enjoy my job teaching America's youth and helping the world become a better place through music education.

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

I think the legislature should be able to collectively recommend but the final say should come from our elected official, the governor.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

West Virginia Education Association

What committees interest you?

Education, of course.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Voters need to know where their taxes go but they also need to understand that they can only pick and choose where their tax dollars are spent by electing the legislature that most closely resembles their views and values.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Dwayne Russell campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	West Virginia State Senate District 4	Lost general	$1,805	$1,805
Grand total			$1,805	$1,805
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

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Candidate

West Virginia State Senate District 4

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the West Virginia State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Randy Smith

Majority Leader:Patrick Martin

Minority Leader:Mike Woelfel

Senators

District 1

Laura Wakim Chapman (R)

Ryan Weld (R)

District 2

Charles Clements (R)

Christopher Rose (R)

District 3

Mike Azinger (R)

Donna Boley (R)

District 4

Amy Grady (R)

Eric Tarr (R)

District 5

Scott Fuller (R)

Mike Woelfel (D)

District 6

Craig Hart (R)

Mark Maynard (R)

District 7

Rupie Phillips (R)

Mike Stuart (R)

District 8

T. Kevan Bartlett (R)

Glenn Jeffries (R)

District 9

Brian Helton (R)

Rollan Roberts (R)

District 10

Vince Deeds (R)

Jack Woodrum (R)

District 11

William Hamilton (R)

Robbie Morris (R)

District 12

Patrick Martin (R)

Ben Queen (R)

District 13

Joey Garcia (D)

Mike Oliverio (R)

District 14

Randy Smith (R)

Jay Taylor (R)

District 15

Darren Thorne (R)

Tom Willis (R)

District 16

Jason Barrett (R)

Patricia Rucker (R)

District 17

Anne Charnock (R)

Tom Takubo (R)

Republican Party (32)

Democratic Party (2)