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Rio Phillips

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Rio Phillips
Democratic Party
Candidate, U.S. Senate West Virginia
Elections and appointments
Next election
May 12, 2026
Personal
Birthplace
Waynesboro, VA
Profession
Community organizer
Contact
Campaign website
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Campaign Instagram
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Personal LinkedIn

Rio Phillips (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. Senate to represent West Virginia. He is on the ballot in the Democratic primary on May 12, 2026.[source]

Phillips completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Rio Phillips was born in Waynesboro, Virginia. He earned a high school diploma from the Pine View School for the Gifted and attended the University of Central Florida, Erie Community College, and Buffalo State College. Phillips' professional experience includes owning a media and marketing business, working as a Medicare insurance agent, and in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence optimization.[1]

Elections

2026

See also: United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2026

United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2026 (May 12 Republican primary)

United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2026 (May 12 Democratic primary)

General election

The primary will occur on May 12, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia

Thornton Cooper, Rachel Fetty Anderson, Jeffrey Kessler, Rio Phillips, and Zachary Shrewsbury are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia on May 12, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Thornton Cooper
Thornton Cooper
Image of Rachel Fetty Anderson
Rachel Fetty Anderson Candidate Connection
Image of Jeffrey Kessler
Jeffrey Kessler
Image of Rio Phillips
Rio Phillips Candidate Connection
Image of Zachary Shrewsbury
Zachary Shrewsbury

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia

The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate West Virginia on May 12, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Moore Capito
Image of Alexander Gaaserud
Alexander Gaaserud
Image of Bryan McKinney
Bryan McKinney Candidate Connection
Image of Janet McNulty
Janet McNulty Candidate Connection
Image of David Purkey
David Purkey Candidate Connection
Image of Tom Willis
Tom Willis

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Rio Phillips completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Phillips' responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

I go by the name Rio, so I’d want my Ballotpedia listing to reflect my nickname not my legal one. I am a Progressive Working Class Democrat running for the U.S. Senate from West Virginia. I am running to lift this state out of poverty and pull the greedy fingers of billionaires off this state.
  • Working Class People Need Working Class Leaders
  • Any Incumbent That Can’t Hold A Town Hall Is Unworthy To Hold Office (Shelley Moore Capito)
  • Restoration of the Rule of Law (Due Process, Habeas Corpus, etc)
Inflating and securing social services for marginalized people, building a prosperous West Virginia for everyone, a competitive and inviting West Virginia
Bernie Sanders, for his commitment to working class liberal values, for his consistency on multiple subjects, from wealth inequality to Gaza, to billionaires and more.
The 13th Amendment actually legalized slavery through its Exception Clause, and is the basis for the Private Prison Industrial Complex, and until we pull out this exception clause, slavery is the legal system
Transparency, honesty, diplomacy, consistency, morality
Strong under fire, transparent, clean zero felony record, ability to communicate with marginalized communities, expansive vision for poor folk and even the unhoused, the ability to hold corruption’s feet to the fire
Listening, facing the people, being diplomatic and inclusive, caring about all constituents
One of service to the people, a legacy of being able to always look folks in the face and confidently lead with honesty and brutal truth sometimes if necessary, a legacy of radical transparency never seen before in Washington DC, a noncorporate legacy
First major historical event was being 11 and witnessing George Bush Sr go to war in Iraq for the first time!
Bussing at a golf club! At least a year!
“Secret Teachings of All Ages” Manly P Hall, because it is a vast tome of powerful knowledge
Robert Langdon from the Dan Brown book series
“We’re the Middle of a Hostile Government Takeover”
Poverty for sure! Three economic collapses in my adulthood have made success elusive! While I’ve tasted success at different times, it’s been quite difficult. I am truly working class!
Loss of jobs to AI, the push for undemocratic monarchy, the political polarization, the rich getting richer while poor gets poorer, the dwindling middle class
Now! More! Congressional! Supreme Court!
Checks and balances on executive power! The ability to promote sweeping legislation that would help the entire nation.
No. In fact, we need working class people overcoming their fears and learning the skills required to lead. The old ways have failed.
Usually just grandstanding after all other forms of resistance to legislation have failed, but still an important component.
Bernie Sanders of course!
Trump is a Christian.
Integrity, objectivity, nonpolitical, transparency, consistency
Diplomatic, friendly, productive, active substantial relationships to accomplish serious tasks
One hundred percent it is
Release the Epstein files, shut down unconstitutional concentration camps
Morality, transparency, conflicts of interest are the most important criteria beyond all else
Budgetary, Intelligence
We need more and more! Audit the Pentagon! Audit the Fed! We need Constitutional enforcement for government officials! Term limits!

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

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.

Rio Phillips campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2026* U.S. Senate West VirginiaOn the Ballot primary$6,844 $4,682
Grand total$6,844 $4,682
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Election 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

2026 Elections

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External links

Candidate

U.S. Senate West Virginia
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    		•

    Personal

  • Instagram
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    		•

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 18, 2025


    West Virginia's current delegation to the United States Congress
    Senators
    Shelley Capito (R)
    Jim Justice (R)
    Representatives
    District 1
    District 2
    Republican Party (4)


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