West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2026

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West Virginia's 1st Congressional District
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
West Virginia's 1st Congressional District 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. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

All U.S. House districts, including the 1st Congressional District of West Virginia, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. The primary is May 12, 2026. The filing deadline is January 31, 2026. For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

• West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2026 (May 12 Democratic primary)
• West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2026 (May 12 Republican primary)

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

General election

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

General election for U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Isaiah Rucker is running in the general election for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Isaiah Rucker (Independent)

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

Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Britta Aguirre is running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on May 12, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Britta Aguirre

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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. House West Virginia District 1

Incumbent Carol Miller, Abel Clendenen, Larry Jackson, and David Sartin are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on May 12, 2026.

		Candidate
		Carol Miller
	Submit photo	Abel Clendenen
		Larry Jackson
		David Sartin

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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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Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here.

Voting information

See also: Voting in West Virginia

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Carol Miller	Republican Party	$538,943	$197,355	$581,130	As of June 30, 2025
Britta Aguirre	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Abel Clendenen	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Larry Jackson	Republican Party	$36,863	$25,255	$12,607	As of June 30, 2025
David Sartin	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Isaiah Rucker	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. 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.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	9/23/2025	9/16/2025	9/9/2025	9/2/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

2024

See also: West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2024

West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (May 14 Republican primary)

West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (May 14 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Incumbent Carol Miller defeated Chris Reed, Wes Holden, Jim Umberger, and A. Warden in the general election for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Carol Miller (R)	66.4	228,491
	Submit photo	Chris Reed (D)	26.1	90,038
		Wes Holden (Independent)	7.4	25,616
		Jim Umberger (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	171
	Submit photo	A. Warden (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	3

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 344,319
= 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 U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Chris Reed defeated Jim Umberger in the Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Chris Reed	56.4	27,509
		Jim Umberger	43.6	21,253

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 48,762
= 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 U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Incumbent Carol Miller defeated Derrick Evans in the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Carol Miller	62.9	65,343
		Derrick Evans	37.1	38,466

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 103,809
= 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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2022

See also: West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Incumbent Carol Miller defeated Lacy Watson and Belinda Fox-Spencer in the general election for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Carol Miller (R)	66.7	151,511
		Lacy Watson (D)	28.8	65,428
		Belinda Fox-Spencer (Independent)	4.5	10,257

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 227,196
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Lacy Watson advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on May 10, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lacy Watson	100.0	32,686

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 32,686
= 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. House West Virginia District 1

Incumbent Carol Miller defeated Scott Fuller, Zane Lawhorn, James Houser, and Kent Stevens in the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on May 10, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Carol Miller	66.3	41,852
		Scott Fuller	9.8	6,197
		Zane Lawhorn	8.8	5,530
	Submit photo	James Houser	7.7	4,877
	Submit photo	Kent Stevens	7.4	4,658

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 63,114
= 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

• Craig Roberts (R)

2020

See also: West Virginia's 1st Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Incumbent David McKinley defeated Natalie Cline and Shawn Cosner in the general election for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David McKinley (R)	69.0	180,488
		Natalie Cline (D)	31.0	81,177
		Shawn Cosner (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	0

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 261,665
= 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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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• David Moran (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Natalie Cline defeated Tom Payne in the Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Natalie Cline	74.7	46,052
		Tom Payne	25.3	15,559

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 61,611
= 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 U.S. House West Virginia District 1

Incumbent David McKinley advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David McKinley	100.0	64,511

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 64,511
= 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.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House West Virginia District 1

David Moran advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House West Virginia District 1 on April 8, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		David Moran (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= 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.

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

See also

West Virginia	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
West Virginia congressional delegation Voting in West Virginia West Virginia elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

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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