West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (May 14 Republican primary)
2026 →
← 2022
|
| West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District |
|---|
 |
| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: January 27, 2024 |
| Primary: May 14, 2024 General: November 5, 2024 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voting in West Virginia |
| Race ratings |
DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Republican 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, 2024 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd West Virginia elections, 2024 U.S. Congress elections, 2024 U.S. Senate elections, 2024 U.S. House elections, 2024 |
A Republican Party primary took place on May 14, 2024, in West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District to determine which Republican candidate would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.
Riley Moore advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2.
All 435 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans had a 220 to 212 majority with three vacancies.[1] As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.
In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 65.5%-34.4%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 67.6%-30.6%.[2]
This is one of 15 elections across the country in which Speaker of the U.S. House Mike Johnson endorsed a Republican candidate in a primary race. Twelve endorsees have advanced from their primaries. One endorsee withdrew. Three of these races have not occurred. To see a full list of these endorsements click here.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
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 utilizes a semi-closed primary system where parties may decide if unaffiliated voters can vote in their primaries.[3][4]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (May 14 Democratic primary)
- West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024
Candidates and election results
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2
Riley Moore defeated Joseph Earley, Chris Walker, Dennis Cain, and Alexander Gaaserud in the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Riley Moore | 45.0 | 47,033 |
 | Joseph Earley  | 20.3 | 21,176 | |
 | Chris Walker | 14.5 | 15,203 | |
 | Dennis Cain | 13.0 | 13,625 | |
 | Alexander Gaaserud | 7.1 | 7,453 | |
| Total votes: 104,490 | |||
| = 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
- Heather Rosen-Turley (R)
- Rj Smith (R)
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.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "Nate Cain is a Republican, U.S. Army Veteran, FBI whistleblower, and cybersecurity entrepreneur in Berkley County, West Virginia. Cain is a God-fearing patriot, who loves his family and wants to ensure a future that is free and prosperous for them, and all Americans. He is an America First candidate for West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District and has a proven track record of integrity, selfless service, personal courage, and loyalty to his country. Cain is focused on restoring our Constitutional freedoms, strengthening our national security, and opening doors to prosperity. He’s intent on fighting federal regulations and policies adversely impacting West Virginia’s potential for growth, especially in the energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and technology sectors, ultimately creating sustainable, high paying jobs and economic self-sufficiency. Nate Cain’s Congressional campaign: https://NateCain4WV.com "
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 in 2024.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "As a Son of West Virginia, I’m a fighter with a strong desire to continue to serve my country as a patriot and I care deeply about West Virginia and our Nation. Born in Montgomery, WV, I attended public school in Kanawha County, graduating from DuPont High School in 1978. I come from a lineage of tradesmen, steel workers, railway workers, coal miners, and military servicemen. I developed a strong work ethic at an early age and put that to good use working part-time while attending DuPont High School. I entered the adult workforce as a tradesman of drafting and surveying at the age of 17 years old and worked on survey crews for several Charleston, West Virginia based engineering firms. I entered the United States Army as an Armor Crewman in 1982 and upon retiring from military service as First Sergeant in January 2002, I returned home to West Virginia as a federal contractor, leading a Department of Defense (DOD) Training Program for Weapons of Mass Destruction to Military and Civilian First Responders, Biometric Experimentation and Cybersecurity programs. I hold a Master of Science degree in Technology Management, with emphasis in Information Security, from Marshall University and a BS in Occupational Training and Development from the University of Louisville. I actively support Veteran causes as of Chairman of the newly founded Harrison County Veterans Council, as an organizational member of the Marion County Veterans Council."
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 in 2024.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I’m retired Brigadier General Chris “Mookie” Walker. I joined the United States Air Force in 1983, and I spent the next 40 years deploying all over the world. I served in Mogadishu in the lead up to the Black Hawk Down incident and saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. I took command of the West Virginia Air National Guard in 2019 and led our sons and daughters for four great years. I’m running for Congress because America is under attack. Deadly fentanyl pours across a wide-open southern border, alongside millions of illegal aliens. Our once-feared military—depleted, diminished, and demoralized, nothing like it was under President Trump. Inflation skyrockets. Men dominate girls’ sports. Our children are indoctrinated in the classroom. It doesn’t have to be this way. But we have to make the right choice in May. We can’t have one more career politician merely casting votes. We need a leader winning battles. When I get to Washington, we’ll get back to basics. A vibrant economy. A classical education. A secure border. Law enforcement will be respected, and our military will be second to none, like it was four years ago. That’s a good deal for every West Virginian. No one is entitled to a seat in Congress. It doesn’t belong to one person or family. It belongs to us—the people of West Virginia. And if we send a self-made West Virginia warrior to Congress, the Swamp will never know what hit it."
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House West Virginia District 2 in 2024.
Voting information
- See also: Voting in West Virginia
Noteworthy endorsements
This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Cain | Republican Party | $128,061 | $128,493 | $0 | As of June 12, 2024 |
| Joseph Earley | Republican Party | $211,706 | $212,733 | $0 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Alexander Gaaserud | Republican Party | $4,150 | $4,848 | $21 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Riley Moore | Republican Party | $1,443,700 | $1,454,397 | $122,963 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Chris Walker | Republican Party | $867,830 | $867,600 | $230 | As of December 31, 2024 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. 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." |
|||||
District analysis
Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.
- District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
- Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
- Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
- State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.
This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in West Virginia.
| West Virginia U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Districts/ offices |
Seats | Open seats | Candidates | Possible primaries | Contested Democratic primaries | Contested Republican primaries | % of contested primaries | Incumbents in contested primaries | % of incumbents in contested primaries | ||||
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 75.0% | 1 | 100.0% | ||||
| 2022 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 75.0% | 3 | 100.0% | ||||
| 2020 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 66.7% | 2 | 66.7% | ||||
| 2018 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 66.7% | 0 | 0.0% | ||||
| 2016 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 33.3% | 1 | 33.3% | ||||
| 2014 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 50.0% | 1 | 50.0% | ||||
Post-filing deadline analysis
The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in West Virginia in 2024. Information below was calculated on March 5, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.
Ten candidates filed to run for West Virginia’s two U.S. House districts, including three Democrats and seven Republicans. That’s five candidates per district, lower than the 6.5 candidates who ran in 2022 but higher than the 4.7 candidates who ran in 2020.
One seat was open in 2024, meaning an incumbent was not running for re-election. The other two election cycles this decade in which a House seat was open were 2018 and 2014.
Alexander Mooney (R), the incumbent in the 2nd district, did not file to run for re-election. Instead he ran to represent West Virginia in the U.S. Senate.
Six candidates—one Democrat and five Republicans—ran to replace Mooney in the 2nd district, the most candidates who ran for a district in 2024.
Three primaries—one Democratic and two Republican—were contested. Between 2014 and 2022, an average of 3.2 primaries were contested.
One incumbent—Carol Miller (R)—faced a primary challenger. That’s fewer than in 2022 when three incumbents faced challengers.
Republican and Democratic candidates filed to run in all districts, meaning none were guaranteed to either party.Partisan Voter Index
Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+22. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 22 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made West Virginia's 2nd the 33rd most Republican district nationally.[5]
2020 presidential election results
The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.
| 2020 presidential results in West Virginia's 2nd based on 2024 district lines | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Joe Biden 
|
Donald Trump 
| |||
| 30.6% | 67.6% | |||
Inside Elections Baselines
- See also: Inside Elections
Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.[6] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.
| Inside Elections Baseline for 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Baseline
|
Republican Baseline
|
Difference | ||
| 36.4 | 59.5 | R+23.1 | ||
Presidential voting history
West Virginia presidential election results (1900-2020)
- 15 Democratic wins
- 16 Republican wins
| Year | 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Party | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | D | D | D | R | D | D | R | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Congressional delegation
The table below displays the partisan composition of West Virginia's congressional delegation as of May 2024.
| Congressional Partisan Breakdown from West Virginia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Total |
| Democratic | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vacancies | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 2 | 4 |
State executive
The table below displays the officeholders in West Virginia's top three state executive offices as of May 2024.
| State executive officials in West Virginia, May 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Office | Officeholder |
| Governor | Jim Justice
|
| Secretary of State | Mac Warner
|
| Attorney General | Patrick Morrisey
|
State legislature
West Virginia State Senate
| Party | As of February 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 3 | |
| Republican Party | 31 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 34 | |
West Virginia House of Delegates
| Party | As of February 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 11 | |
| Republican Party | 89 | |
| Independent | 0 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Trifecta control
The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.
West Virginia Party Control: 1992-2024
Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas • Seven years of Republican trifectas
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D[7] | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Ballot access
The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in West Virginia in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in West Virginia, click here.
| Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Office | Party | Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source |
| West Virginia | U.S. House | Ballot-qualified party | N/A | $1,740.00 | 1/27/2024 | Source |
| West Virginia | U.S. House | Unaffiliated | 1% of votes cast for this office in the last election, but no fewer than 25 | $1,740.00 | 8/1/2024 | Source |
See also
- West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (May 14 Democratic primary)
- West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024
- United States House elections in West Virginia, 2024 (May 14 Democratic primaries)
- United States House elections in West Virginia, 2024 (May 14 Republican primaries)
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2024
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2024
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2024
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2024
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ A majority in the U.S. House when there are no vacancies is 218 seats.
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts," accessed September 15, 2022
- ↑ West Virginia State Legislature, "WV Code § 3-4A-20," accessed June 30, 2025
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed June 30, 2025
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
- ↑ Inside Elections, "Methodology: Inside Elections’ Baseline by Congressional District," December 8, 2023
- ↑ Gov. Jim Justice switched his registration to Republican on August 4, 2017.
