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

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U.S. Senate, West Virginia
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: January 31, 2026
Primary: May 12, 2026 General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voting in West Virginia
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
U.S. Senate, West Virginia U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd West Virginia elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

A Democratic Party primary takes place on May 12, 2026, in West Virginia to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the state's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
January 31, 2026	May 12, 2026	November 3, 2026

Heading into the election, the incumbent is Shelley Moore Capito (Republican), who was first elected in 2014.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. West Virginia state law permits parties to determine for themselves whether to allow previously unaffiliated voters to participate in their primaries along with registered members. As of October 2025, the Democratic Party held a semi-closed primary where unaffiliated voters could participate, and the Republican Party held a closed primary in which only voters registered with the party could participate.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Thirty-three of the 100 U.S. Senate seats are up for election, and another two seats are up for special election. Democrats hold 13 of the seats up for election, and Republicans hold 22. As of January 2026, 11 members of the U.S. Senate announced they are not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. Senate elections taking place this year, click here.

This page focuses on West Virginia's United States Senate Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

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

Candidates and election results

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
		Thornton Cooper
		Rachel Fetty Anderson
		Jeffrey Kessler
		Rio Phillips
		Zachary Shrewsbury

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Rachel Fetty Anderson

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "I'm a public interest attorney and mother of four. Our family has been in West Virginia since 2007. We have been blessed to experience the best West Virginia has to offer as well as many of the challenging experiences faced by families throughout the state. As a public interest attorney I have represented children and families and individuals in many challenging times of life. In my personal and professional life I have seen the foster care system from both sides and understand the challenges many of our families face with family members struggling with poverty, addiction and recovery issues. In my volunteer work I have seen the generosity of people with nothing to share and the cruelty of people with too much to manage. Contrary to many opinions. West Virginia is not poor. Its people are. Why? Our leaders have often turned our problems into their primary source of wealth, while funneling our natural resource out of the state or turning them into poison for pennies on the dollar. This will not be my legacy. I have a record of willingness to do the most difficult work to reach a solution. I have a record of playing the long game and pivoting to try new ways of addressing old problems. I am committed to improving the health, safety and environment of our people and our children. I look forward to this season."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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HUMAN RIGHTS: Your humanity is enough. As an American citizen, resident or guest, your humanity is sufficient to guarantee that the government and its actors will treat you humanely and we will afford you access to the processes, protections, resources and rights granted to you by the law. We are committed in word and deed to acting in compliance with the Constitution, our treaties, laws and basic human decency in our interactions with you and treating all people fairly.

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CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: Infants, children and young people are the true heart of the United States of America and investing in their health, safety, welfare and education is our priority. We demonstrate our commitment to our own future by investing in the safety and support of families, however formed, and the creation of development and trauma aware safety nets for families and children experiencing hardship. We prioritize educational resources wherever families choose to educate their children but prioritize providing public education services that are developmentally appropriate, focus on fundamental educational skills, principles and civic and scientific knowledge that reflects current research and respectful of our common history.

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American people and taxpayers contribute enough to our economy to have the best healthcare, infrastructure and education in the world. We do not have access to this level of service and support because our representatives are beholden to foreign governments, corporate interests and donors from every enterprise who forget that they are completely beholden to human workers, consumers and voters for every dollar. The one great blessing of this administration is that it's betrayal of the American people, the American voter and American interests has been bold and extreme enough to reveal the truth. We the people are the source of the government's power and wealth. We deserve representatives who stand up for us and our children.

Rio Phillips

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "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."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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Working Class People Need Working Class Leaders

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Any Incumbent That Can’t Hold A Town Hall Is Unworthy To Hold Office (Shelley Moore Capito)

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Restoration of the Rule of Law (Due Process, Habeas Corpus, etc)

Voting information

See also: Voting in West Virginia

Election information in West Virginia: May 12, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

• In-person: April 21, 2026
• By mail: Postmarked by April 21, 2026
• Online: April 21, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

• In-person: May 6, 2026
• By mail: Received by May 6, 2026
• Online: May 6, 2026

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

• In-person: May 11, 2026
• By mail: Postmarked by May 12, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

April 29, 2026 to May 9, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

6:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. (ET)

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Thornton Cooper	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Rachel Fetty Anderson	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Jeffrey Kessler	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Rio Phillips	Democratic Party	$6,844	$4,682	$2,161	As of December 31, 2025
Zachary Shrewsbury	Democratic Party	$259,631	$249,599	$10,032	As of December 31, 2025
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," . This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in West Virginia in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in West Virginia, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2026
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
West Virginia	U.S. Senate	Ballot-qualified party	N/A	1% of annual salary	1/31/2026	Source
West Virginia	U.S. Senate	Unaffiliated	1% of votes cast for this office in the last election, but no fewer than 25	1% of annual salary	8/3/2026	Source

See also

• United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2026 (May 12 Republican primary)
• United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2026
• United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2026
• United States Senate Republican Party primaries, 2026
• United States Senate elections, 2026
• U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2026

External links

Suggest a link

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Footnotes

[show]

West Virginia's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Shelley Capito (R)

Jim Justice (R)

Representatives

District 1

Carol Miller (R)

District 2

Riley Moore (R)

Republican Party (4)

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Super PACs/Organizations

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