West Virginia 2014 Election Results

West Virginia held its general election on November 4, 2014, deciding 101 legislative seats across 84 districts. Control shifted: the Senate moved from a 24-10 Democratic majority to a 17-17 split organized by Republicans; the House of Delegates moved from a 53-47 Democratic majority to a 64-36 Republican majority.

Highlights

• Republicans won both chambers of the Legislature for the first time in more than 80 years, ending the Democratic trifecta; the governorship was not on the ballot. The House of Delegates gave them their first majority there in 83 years.
• Republican gains left the Senate tied 17-17 on election night. The next day, Democratic Sen. Daniel Hall of Wyoming County, who was not up this year, switched parties, giving the GOP an 18-16 advantage. Sen. Bill Cole, in line to become Senate president, engineered the move. Seven Democratic senators lost their seats:
  • Ryan Ferns (R) beat Rocky Fitzsimmons (D), appointed by Gov. Tomblin in 2012, by about 940 votes in Senate District 1.
  • Charles S. Trump, IV (R) beat Donald H. Cookman (D), a former circuit judge appointed in 2013, by about 34 points in Senate District 15.
  • Mark Maynard (R) beat H. Truman Chafin (D) by about 375 votes in Senate District 6.
  • Kent Leonhardt (R) beat Larry John Edgell (D) in Senate District 2.
  • Ed Gaunch (R) beat Erik Patrick Wells (D) in Senate District 8.
  • Jeff Mullins (R) beat Mike Green (D) in Senate District 9.
  • Robert Karnes (R) beat Gregory A. Tucker (D) in Senate District 11.
  Republicans also took the open, Democratic-held Senate District 17, where Tom Takubo (R) beat Doug Skaff, Jr. (D), while Mike Woelfel (D) won the open, Republican-held Senate District 5, Democrats' only Senate pickup.
• In the House of Delegates, the new majority's leader, Tim Armstead (R), became the first Republican speaker since the 1929-1931 term. Because many House districts elect several members, two Democratic incumbents lost by finishing just behind the last winning slot: Kayla Kessinger (R) edged Margaret Anne Staggers (D) by about 80 votes in House of Delegates District 32, and Terry Waxman (R) edged Richard J. Iaquinta (D) by about 115 in House of Delegates District 48.
• The closest finish of all was between two Democrats: Nancy Peoples Guthrie (D) kept her seat in House of Delegates District 36 by about 20 votes over fellow incumbent Danny Wells (D). In House of Delegates District 59, Saira Blair (R), who had ousted an incumbent in the primary, won with about 63% and became the youngest state lawmaker in America at 18.
• Republican Shelley Moore Capito also won a U.S. Senate seat, becoming the state's first female U.S. senator. Voters also approved Amendment 1, a tax exemption for nonprofit youth organizations.

Legislature

• House of Delegates (100 seats): 53 D, 47 R before the election, 36 D, 64 R after; control moved from Democrats to Republicans.
• Senate (34 seats): 24 D, 10 R before the election, 16 D, 18 R after; control moved from Democrats to Republicans.

Legislative races

Ballot measures