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Latest revision as of 01:13, 3 February 2026

Tristan Leavitt
Candidate, West Virginia House of Delegates District 53
West Virginia House of Delegates District 53
Tenure
2024 - Present
Term ends
2026
Years in position
1
Predecessor: Chris Pritt (R)
Compensation
Base salary
$23,000/year
Per diem
$75/day for members who commute daily. $175/day for members who do not commute daily.
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 5, 2024
Next election
May 12, 2026
Education
Bachelor's
Brigham Young University, 2007
Law
Georgetown University, 2011
Contact

Tristan Leavitt (Republican Party) is a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 53. He assumed office on December 1, 2024. His current term ends on December 1, 2026.

Leavitt (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the West Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 53. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on May 12, 2026.[source]

Biography

Tristan Leavitt earned a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in 2007. He earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 2011.[1]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2026

See also: West Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2026

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

Democratic primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53

Howard Mize (D) and Keena Mullins (D) are running in the Democratic primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53 on May 12, 2026.


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

Republican primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53

Incumbent Tristan Leavitt (R) and Terry Burns (R) are running in the Republican primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53 on May 12, 2026.


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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

See also: West Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2024

General election

General election for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53

Tristan Leavitt defeated Chris Smith in the general election for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tristan Leavitt
Tristan Leavitt (R) Candidate Connection
 
59.9
 
3,893
Chris Smith (D)
 
40.1
 
2,607

Total votes: 6,500
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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53

Chris Smith advanced from the Democratic primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53 on May 14, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Chris Smith
 
100.0
 
886

Total votes: 886
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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53

Tristan Leavitt defeated Terry Burns in the Republican primary for West Virginia House of Delegates District 53 on May 14, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tristan Leavitt
Tristan Leavitt Candidate Connection
 
60.0
 
943
Terry Burns
 
40.0
 
628

Total votes: 1,571
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.

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Tristan Leavitt has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Tristan Leavitt asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Tristan Leavitt, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 25,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.

You can ask Tristan Leavitt to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing tristan@leavittforwv.com.

Twitter
Email


2024

Candidate Connection

Tristan Leavitt completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Leavitt's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a husband, father, and disciple of Christ. My wife Brittany and I have five children ranging from 1st to 12th grade, most of whom are in Kanawha County Public Schools. We are extremely active in the community and in our local church congregation. Brittany also owns the local small business Nellie's Cookie Jar and works as a victims advocate for the Kanawha County Prosecutor.

Growing up, I learned the value of hard work by helping my dad hang sheetrock for his small business. My mom stayed home to raise the seven children in our family, and money was so tight we couldn’t afford health insurance. Knowing how far a dollar can go, I am passionate about government using our tax dollars wisely.

I've used that passion to focus my legal career on finding and fixing problems in government. I led congressional investigations into ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious, the U.S. Secret Service, and Hillary Clinton’s misuse of a private email server for classified government records. During the Trump Administration I was appointed to help lead two federal agencies, and in 2022 the U.S. Senate confirmed me to the three-person board that decides federal whistleblower appeals. In 2023 I became president of the nonprofit Empower Oversight, where I provide legal representation to whistleblowers from agencies like the IRS, the FBI, and the Secret Service bringing to light waste, and abuse in the federal government.
  • Jobs: To improve our local economy and raise the standard of living, we need to bring more jobs to the area. The rising generation shouldn't have to move away from West Virginia after schooling just to have opportunities for good employment.
  • Education: Our children deserve better educational outcomes. This will make them more competitive for the workforce and able to obtain better-paying jobs. Improving our education system will also make it easier to attract employers to the area.
  • Effective government services: Our hard-earned tax dollars should be used efficiently and effectively, and that means looking more closely at where the state is spending money and where we are failing to provide the services that will actually improve the lives of West Virginians.
I am a firm believer in human dignity, and am thus passionate about all public policies, such as those above, that can improve individual quality of life and enable prosperity. I am also passionate about *how* government operates, including with the right checks and balances, since that is key to whether individuals and businesses are allowed to meet their full potential. Finally, having lost three close family members to suicide and seen many loved ones face addiction, I am passionate about mental health and addiction recovery.
As a Christian, I strive to follow Jesus Christ in all that I do. I also love biographies and often find the lives of others inspiring. One public servant I have long admired is William Wilberforce, a Member of the English Parliament whose evangelical conversion motivated him in a twenty-year campaign that resulted in the abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom.
Integrity, humility, and willingness to work hard and listen to and compromise with others.
Hard work, determination, critical thinking, willingness to listen to others, healthy skepticism. Disagreeing without being disagreeable is also very important to me.
Kindness. Long after we're gone I believe we'll be judged by how we treated others.
From about age 12 until age 18, I spent summers hanging sheetrock and doing drywall for my dad's small business. When I was old enough to drive I also worked some afternoons after school outside of the wrestling and debate seasons.
The Bible. It teaches me balance and perspective, and helps me feel closer to God.
Citizen legislatures like West Virginia's benefit from legislators with a variety of different perspectives and life experiences. However, I definitely believe my previous government experience would be beneficial to trying to tackle some of the uniquely thorny challenges West Virginia faces right now, such as improving our education system, our foster care system, etc.
Without question. Accomplishing results for your constituents requires building relationships with other legislators to find common ground and build coalitions.
Americans for Prosperity WV

Associated Builders & Contractors of WV
Big I of WV
Committee for Responsible Government
Contractors Association of WV
Gas and Oil Association of WV
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 132
Operators Political Education & Education Committee
WV & Appalachian Laborers District Council
WV Auto Dealers Association
WV Bankers Association
WV Beer Wholesalers PAC
WV Business & Industry Council
WV Building and Construction Trades
WV Chamber
WV Federation of Young Republicans
WV Home Builders Association
WV Hospital PAC
WV Manufacturers Association
WV Optometric Physicians

West Virginians for Life
Government Organization, Judiciary, Education, or any committee contributing to improving West Virginia's economy.
I could not be more passionate about this issue. A bedrock principle of our democratic republic is that government is ultimately accountable to the people, and we elect representatives to help ensure that accountability. Since the legislature approves the expenditure of public funds, it has a fundamental responsibility to conduct oversight to ensure they're used efficiently and effectively. Transparency is essential to true accountability, so the more financial transparency, the better.

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.


Tristan Leavitt campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024West Virginia House of Delegates District 53Won general$79,469 $60,290
Grand total$79,469 $60,290
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Election Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in West Virginia

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of West Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.











See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 11, 2024

Political offices
Preceded by
Chris Pritt (R)
West Virginia House of Delegates District 53
2024-Present
Succeeded by
-


Current members of the West Virginia House of Delegates
Leadership
Minority Leader:Sean Hornbuckle
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
Bill Bell (R)
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
Mark Dean (R)
District 35
District 36
S. Green (R)
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
Carl Roop (R)
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
JB Akers (R)
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
District 70
District 71
District 72
District 73
District 74
Guy Ward (R)
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
District 81
District 82
District 83
District 84
District 85
District 86
District 87
District 88
District 89
District 90
District 91
District 92
District 93
District 94
District 95
District 96
District 97
S. Anders (R)
District 98
District 99
District 100
Republican Party (91)
Democratic Party (9)