More West Virginians Are Now Registered Republicans Than Ever Before 

The West Virginia Republican Party announced Monday that in July Republican voter registration officially surpassed 500,000 for the first time ever in the state’s history. That represents just over 42% of all registered voters in the state.

According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office, the state Democratic party has just over 330,000 registered voters or 28% of all registered voters.

The milestone is a reversal for a state where just 10 years ago Republican registrations trailed Democrats by more than 170,000 voters. According to the  Secretary of State, less than 400,000 West Virginians were registered Republicans in 2016, compared to more than 570,000 registered Democrats at the time.

Josh Holstein, chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, says voters are reacting to their leadership.

“We believe that’s completely attributable to how we’ve governed in the state since the voters have decided to put us in office, and how President Trump’s brand nationally has resonated with West Virginians,” he said.

Republicans currently hold a supermajority in the state capitol, controlling the House of Delegates, the Senate and the governor’s office and have done so for close to a decade.

“People are excited to be Republicans. West Virginia has a long history, 85 years Democrats had controlled the legislature in West Virginia consecutively,” Holstein said. “I think it’s a testament to how we’ve governed that so many people that were generationally Democrat have decided to be Republicans now, and a lot of younger folks are becoming Republicans in our state as well.”

The Republican party announced they will be holding a closed primary in 2026, meaning only registered party members will be able to participate. Holstein acknowledged that may be driving registration numbers, but reasserted that the party’s governance is the primary reason for the increase.

“That probably has something to do with it,” he said. “We’re going to have an outreach campaign and let folks know that that’s the decision that the party has made, and we want as many independents to join the Republican Party and grow our numbers as possible.”

There are now just five counties – Boone, Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Monongalia – where more voters are registered Democrat than Republican. Holstein said the party is confident they will reverse that by the next election in November 2026.

“We think that we can flip those counties by the end of this cycle,” he said. “So by the end of next year, we’re confident that all five will be flipped, which will make the entire state, completely Republican plurality.”

There are some places where the margin between party registration is stark, like in Grant County where more than 5,000 Republicans outnumber just over 500 Democrats 10 to 1. Elsewhere the difference is much smaller, such as in Webster County where three voters separate the parties.

But both major parties are slowly losing ground to third party alternatives. “No party” registrations have grown by almost 33,000 voters in the past decade and now represent a full 25% of all registered voters in the state. 

While still marginal, registrations for the Mountain Party, Libertarians and even “Other” have all seen modest growth since 2016. A new party, the Constitution Party now counts more than 100 registered voters.