West Virginia 2016 Election Results

West Virginia held its general election on November 8, 2016, deciding 101 legislative seats across 84 districts and 6 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans widened their Senate majority from 18-16 to 22-12 and unseated two Democratic statewide officials, but Democrats kept the governorship, so state government stayed divided.
• Jim Justice (D), a billionaire who owns The Greenbrier resort and a coal and agriculture empire, beat Senate President Bill Cole (R) by about 7 points. Cole had tied his campaign to Donald Trump.
• Republicans picked up four Senate seats on balance:
  • Delegate Ryan Weld (R) unseated Jack Yost (D) by about 900 votes in Senate District 1.
  • Delegate Randy Smith (R) unseated Bob Williams (D) by about 11 points in Senate District 14.
  • Mike Maroney (R) won Senate District 2, the seat Minority Leader Jeff Kessler had held for nearly 20 years, by about 17 points over Lisa Zukoff (D).
  • Kenny W. Mann (R) beat Delegate David Perry (D) by about 9 points in Senate District 10.
  • Patricia Rucker (R) beat Delegate Stephen Skinner (D) by about 6 points in Senate District 16.
  • Democrats' lone gain came in Senate District 8, where union contractor Glenn Jeffries (D) defeated GOP incumbent Chris Walters (R) by about 6 points.
  Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael (R), whom Senate Republicans later chose to succeed Cole as president, withstood heavy union opposition to hold Senate District 4 by about 900 votes over Brian Prim (D). The closest Senate race was in Senate District 12, where Doug Facemire (D) held on by 107 votes over Franklin D. Cornette II (R).
• Mac Warner (R) unseated Secretary of State Natalie Tennant (D) by under 2 points after making an issue of her support for Hillary Clinton. State Sen. Kent Leonhardt (R) unseated Agriculture Commissioner Walt Dolph Helmick (D) by about 7 points, becoming the first Republican in 28 years elected to that office. John B. McCuskey (R) won the auditor's race. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) won a second term over Doug Reynolds (D) by about 10 points, and Treasurer John D. Perdue (D) was re-elected.
• Republicans held the House at 63-37. Former House Judiciary Chair Tim Manchin (D) lost his seat, finishing outside the top three in the three-seat House District 50. In the three-seat House District 36, Delegate Brad White (R) held on to the third seat by 13 votes over Delegate Nancy Peoples Guthrie (D), a lead that grew during the canvass. Riley Moore (R) took House District 67 from Democrats by fewer than 100 votes.

Legislature

• House of Delegates (100 seats): 36 D, 64 R before the election, 37 D, 63 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (34 seats): 16 D, 18 R before the election, 12 D, 22 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races