West Virginia election preview, 2024
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Last updated: Oct. 21, 2024
Thousands of general elections are taking place across the United States on Nov. 5, 2024. Those elections include offices at the federal, state, and local levels. This is one of 50 pages in which Ballotpedia previews the elections happening in each state as part of the Daily Brew’s 50 states in 25 days series.
This page provides an overview of all elections happening in West Virginia within our coverage scope on Nov. 5, 2024. Those elections include one for the U.S. Senate, two for U.S. House, one for governor, 17 of 34 state senate seats, and all 100 state House seats. Additionally, there is one statewide ballot measure on the ballot in West Virginia. This page also includes more information about election day in West Virginia, including:
- How to vote in West Virginia
- The elected offices that West Virginia voters can expect to see on their ballots
- The races in West Virginia that Ballotpedia is covering as battlegrounds
- The ballot measures that voters in West Virginia will decide on
- Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
- The partisan balance of West Virginia's congressional delegation and state government
- Past presidential election results in West Virginia
- The competitiveness of legislative elections in West Virginia
- The candidates who are on the ballot in West Virginia
Voting information
- See also: Voting in West Virginia
What's on the ballot?
2024 elections
- See also: West Virginia elections, 2024
At the federal level, West Virginia voters will elect one U.S. Senator and two U.S. Representatives. To learn more about the U.S. Senate election in West Virginia, click here. To learn more about the U.S. House elections in West Virginia, click here.
Voters will elect a governor. Patrick Morrisey (R), Steve Williams (D), and six other candidates are running in the general election. Click here to learn more.
117 of 134 seats in the Legislature are up for election, including 17 of 34 seats in the Senate and all 100 seats in the House. There are three open seats in the Senate and 16 open seats in the House.
Voters will decide on one statewide ballot measure. If approved, the measure would prohibit "medically-assisted suicide, euthanasia, and mercy killing."
Below is a list of West Virginia elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2024. Click the links to learn more about each type:
| West Virginia elections, 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Elections? | More information |
| U.S. Senate | ✓ | Click here |
| U.S. House | ✓ | Click here |
| Congress special election | — | — |
| Governor | ✓ | Click here |
| Other state executive | ✓ | Click here |
| State Senate | ✓ | Click here |
| State House | ✓ | Click here |
| Special state legislative | — | — |
| State Supreme Court | ✓ | Click here |
| Intermediate appellate courts | ✓ | Click here |
| School boards | — | — |
| Municipal government | — | — |
| Recalls | — | — |
| Ballot measures | ✓ | Click here |
| Local ballot measures | — | — |
Legend: ✓ election(s) / — no elections
Subject to Ballotpedia's scope
Your ballot
- See also: Sample Ballot Lookup
Noteworthy elections
As of Oct. 21, 2024, Ballotpedia did not identify any battleground general election races in West Virginia.
Ballot measures
There is one statewide ballot measures on the ballot in West Virginia.
| Type | Title | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amendment 1 | Prohibit people from participating in "the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person" |
|
340,403 (50%) |
334,521 (50%) |
In West Virginia, a total of 27 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1985 and 2022. Fourteen ballot measures were approved, and 13 ballot measures were defeated.
State analysis
Partisan balance
One Republican and one independent represent West Virginia in the U.S. Senate-Shelley Moore Capito (R) and Joe Manchin III (I). Capito's seat is not up for re-election this year since her term ends in 2027. Manchin is not seeking re-election to the Senate this year, meaning Jim Justice (R), Glenn Elliott (R), and four other candidates are running for the open seat. There are 47 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and four independents. Three independents caucus with the Democratic Party, and one other counts towards the Democratic majority for committee purposes.
Two Republicans represent West Virginia in the U.S. House–Carol Miller (R) and Alexander Mooney (R). Miller and Mooney are both running for re-election. In the U.S. House, Republicans have a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.
Republicans have a 31-3 majority the state Senate and a 88-11 majority in the state House, with one vacancy. The last time Democratrs controlled either chamber of the Legislature was in 2014, when Democrats controlled both chambers.
Because the governor is a Republican, West Virginia is one of 23 states with a Republican trifecta. It has held this status since 2017 when Gov. Jim Justice (R) switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. West Virginia's attorney general and secretary of state are also Republicans. This makes West Virginia one of 25 states with a Republican triplex.
Past presidential election results in West Virginia
How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:
| County-level voting pattern categories | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | |||||||
| Status | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | ||||
| Solid Democratic | D | D | D | ||||
| Trending Democratic | R | D | D | ||||
| Battleground Democratic | D | R | D | ||||
| New Democratic | R | R | D | ||||
| Republican | |||||||
| Status | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | ||||
| Solid Republican | R | R | R | ||||
| Trending Republican | D | R | R | ||||
| Battleground Republican | R | D | R | ||||
| New Republican | D | D | R | ||||
Following the 2020 presidential election, 100.0% of West Virginians lived in one of the state's 55 Solid Republican counties, which voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020. Overall, West Virginia was Solid Republican, having voted for Mitt Romney (R) in 2012, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, and Donald Trump (R) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in West Virginia following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.
| West Virginia county-level statistics, 2020 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solid Republican | 55 | 100.0% | |||||
| Total voted Democratic | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
| Total voted Republican | 55 | 100.0% | |||||
State legislative competitiveness
According to Ballotpedia's annual state legislative competitiveness report, West Virginia had a Competitiveness Index of 34.1, ranking it 23rd of the 44 states that held elections.
- 19 of the 117 seats up for election were open (16%).
- 30 of the 98 incumbents who ran for re-election faced contested primaries (31%).
- 65 of the 117 seats up for election were contested by both major parties (56%).
2010-2024
2010-2024
Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.
| State Legislative Competitiveness Index in West Virginia, 2010-2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Open seats | Incs. in contested primaries | Major party competition | Competitiveness Index | Rank | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | 12.0% | 50.5% | 65.0% | 42.5 | 7 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | 16.2% | 45.9% | 65.8% | 42.6 | 11 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | 9.4% | 32.1% | 83.8% | 41.8 | 7 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | 21.4% | 40.9% | 92.3% | 51.5 | 2 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | 15.4% | 40.4% | 87.2% | 47.7 | 5 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 20.5% | 48.4% | 81.2% | 50.0 | 2 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 19.7% | 36.7% | 71.8% | 42.7 | 12 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 16.2% | 30.6% | 55.6% | 34.1 | 23 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
In 2024
Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents. Click on headings for more state-specific information.
| State Legislative Competitiveness Index in West Virginia, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber | Open seats | Incs. in contested primaries | Major party competition | Competitiveness Index | ||||||||||||||||||||
| House | 16.0% | 27.4% | 56.0% | 33.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Senate | 17.6% | 50.0% | 52.9% | 40.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 16.2% | 30.6% | 55.6% | 34.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
List of candidates
| candidate | office | party | status |
|---|---|---|---|
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Independent | Lost (Write-in) General | ||
Independent | Lost (Write-in) General | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
Democratic | Lost General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | office | party | status |
|---|---|---|---|
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Democratic | Lost General | ||
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Independent | Lost (Write-in) General | ||
Independent | Lost (Write-in) General | ||
Libertarian | Lost General | ||
Mountain Party | Lost General | ||
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Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Libertarian | Lost (Write-in) General | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Democratic | Disqualified General | ||
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Democratic | Lost General | ||
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Republican | Lost General | ||
Republican | Withdrew General | ||
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Mountain Party | Lost General | ||
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 Eric Nelson Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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Republican | Lost General | ||
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Democratic | Lost General | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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 Doug Smith Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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 Eric Brooks Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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 JB Akers Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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 Hollis Lewis Incumbent | Democratic | Won General | |
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Democratic | Lost General | ||
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Democratic | Withdrew General | ||
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 Bryan Ward Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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 Rick Hillenbrand Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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Constitution Party | Lost General | ||
 | Republican | Won General | |
 Michael Hornby Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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Republican | Won General | ||
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 Joe Funkhouser Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
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 William Ridenour Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
See also
Footnotes
