Tag: Election 2014

Hall Switches Parties, GOP Will Control Both Chambers of West Virginia Legislature

Senator Daniel Hall has left the Democratic Party, flipping the West Virginia Legislature entirely into the hands of the GOP, according to a source in the state’s Republican Party office. 

The party affiliation change comes after a deadlock in the state Senate where Republicans and Democrats each had 17 members as a result of Tuesday’s election.

Hall said of the switch Wednesday night via Facebook:

"Political climates change, and I made a decision today to keep Raleigh, Wyoming and Mcdowell counties at the table in the West Virginia Senate. I have always picked our people over party…and did today as well. This decision will upset some, but had to be made for our district to be relevant."

Hall served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2008 to 2012. In  2006, he unsuccessfully ran for the House of Delegates as a Republican. 

Hall’s counterpart in the Senate’s 9th District, Democratic incumbent Mike Green, was defeated in Tuesday’s election by Republican Jeff Mullins. 

It also looks as though Hall’s switch may not be only one from Democrat to Republican in the state Senate, according to The Charleston Daily Mail’s Jared Hunt:

After Tuesday's Election West Virginia's State Senate Was Tied. Now, It's Not.

Updated Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 7:45 p.m. 

State Senator Daniel Hall has switched from Democrat to Republican, switching the balance of power. 
 
For more, see this story.

Original Post from Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 3: 51 p.m. 

After Tuesday’s mid-term elections, Democrats in the West Virginia Senate are living with a new reality.  There are 17 of them and 17 Republicans, leaving the upper chamber in a dead even tie.

The results mean control of the Senate, and Senate President Jeff Kessler’s position of power, hang in the balance, but it’s not one that’s likely to be decided any time soon.

“At this point, I think the rules of the Senate are what you look to and, basically, we set our own rules,” Kessler said Wednesday. “There are some Constitutional provisions that we need to look at, but I’m comfortable and confident that working with our colleagues across the aisle, we’ll find a way to make the Senate work.”

Kessler pointed to the work Senators did in 2010 to create an acting Senate President position after Earl Ray Tomblin stepped in as Acting Governor. At that time, however, Democrats held a 26-8 majority.

Still, the parties will have to work together to negotiate how the Senate will be led in the upcoming legislative session. Looking to the history of the issue in the state, however, may not be helpful.

The first time the West Virginia Senate experienced a deadlock was after the 1910 election, and then again in 1912. In both years, there were 15 members from each party.

From the West Virginia Encyclopedia:

At the time, U.S. senators were appointed by the legislature. During the 1911 legislative session when the two parties deadlocked, Republican senators absented themselves from the state. They rode a train to Cincinnati where they stayed in a hotel and prevented the Senate from being able to meet in Charleston because of the lack of a quorum of 16 members. The tie was never broken, but a compromise was worked out whereby Republicans elected the Senate president and Democrats chose the U.S. senators. Much of the credit for the compromise is given to the clerk of the Senate at the time, John T. Harris of Parkersburg.

Such a compromise is no longer relevant in West Virginia. Instead, lawmakers could look to other states that have experienced similar situations more recently.

In Wyoming, the tied state Senate in 1974 decided control of the chamber with a coin toss. South Dakota and Montana have passed legislation to have the chamber leader selected from the party of the governor.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, though, the most common resolution is for both parties to come to a negotiated agreement which can take three forms.

  1. “Co” Agreement- Used most recently in the Oregon House in 2010, dual leaders of both the chamber and committees are appointed who alternate the times at which they preside
  2. Divided Power Contract- Used most recently by the Virginia House in 1997, one party names the leader of the body while the other appoints the chairs of all major committees. Minor committee chairs alternate by party.
  3. Negotiated Resignation- Used most recently by Maine’s Senate in 2000, one party elects a leader for a set period of time who agrees to resign after that period. The other party then elects a leader following the resignation.

Kessler said it was too soon to speculate what members of the West Virginia Senate would decide. 

Rahall Reflects on 2014 Campaign, Career Accomplishments

Democrat Nick Rahall of Beckley will leave his congressional office next month after 38 years of service, to be replaced by Republican Evan Jenkins.

West Virginia’s District 3 congressman sat down with Suzanne Higgins on election night, to reflect on the 2014 campaign, and the successes he’s had for southern West Virginia while in office.

While the Rahall campaign received between $3-$7 million in outside support to Jenkins’ estimated $8-$10 million, the congressman said the practice has undermined the political process.

He pointed to road construction and legislation that benefited coal miners and veterans among his greatest accomplishments.

Rahall thanked his family, staff and supporters and said he would be staying in southern West Virginia, continuing to work on coal mining and veteran issues.  

Five Ways the West Virginia GOP Made History in the 2014 Election

The story of the 2014 Midterm Elections in West Virginia is all about the Republican Party.

Calling Tuesday’s election a statement that the President’s polices were on the ballot, Republicans won big in federal races and dramatically shifted the power of the state legislature.

Here are the five biggest stories of the night:

1. The House of Delegates is now in the hands of the GOP for the first time in 83 years.

The state Republican Party’s main focus this year was changing the balance of power in the House of Delegates. Running on a campaign of “83 years is enough” and pointing to the longtime control of Democrats, the GOP pulled 64 of 100 seats in the state legislature’s lower house. 

Now, a new race is on: one for Speaker of the House.

2. (Updated) After the election, the Senate was split down the middle. But, Senator Daniel Hall switched parties on Wednesday. 

Republicans picked up 11 of 17 State Senate seats up for grabs, including upsets of some notable Democratic incumbents like Mike Green, Erik Wells, and Greg Tucker.

But the big story is that–after Republican pickups pushed the Senate to a dead even tie–Senator Daniel Hall switched parties and became a Republican. 

The last time the Senate was split between parties, something strange happened. 

3. With Capito’s U.S. Senate win, she becomes West Virginia’s first female Senator and first Republican to hold a West Virginia Senate seat in nearly 60 years.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito won big over Secretary of State Natalie Tennant with major news outlets calling the race in her favor only seconds after the polls closed. 

In her acceptance speech, Capito pointed to the notion that the President’s unpopular policies, particularly that of the EPA’s proposed limits on carbon emissions, helped fuel her win. 

4. West Virginia Republicans hold all seats in the U.S. House for the first time since 1921.

While the McKinley-Gainer race for the 1st Congressional District wasn’t even close, Republican wins in the 2nd and 3rd Districts were a bit of a surprise.

Former Maryland legislator Alex Mooney beat out former state Democratic Party Chair Nick Casey in the 2nd District. Mooney was criticized for being an outsider during the campaign, but managed to pull 47.1 percent of the vote, compared to Casey’s 43.9 percent share.

But the biggest story was Democrat-turned-Republican Evan Jenkins’ unseating of Rep. Nick Rahall in the 3rd Congressional District. Rahall had served southern West Virginia for 38 years and was heavily targeted by Republicans the past few elections.

5. 18-year-old Saira Blair will become the youngest state lawmaker in America.

After knocking out Republican incumbent Larry Kump in the May primary, Saria Blair pulled 63 percent of the vote Tuesday night to become West Virginia’s youngest lawmaker. In a Facebook post as her race was called, Blair told her followers “the path to prosperity and success is rooted in conservative values and principles.” 

Credit Cliff Owen / AP
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AP

She is the daughter of sitting State Senator Craig Blair. 

A freshmen at West Virginia University, the Saira Blair will became the state’s youngest legislator. Also, as NPR reports:

Mick Bullock, of the National Conference of State Legislatures, which keeps track of demographics, says their early research indicates that Blair is the youngest lawmaker in the country.

Longest Serving Senator Says Her Party Won't Concede Power

Senator Donna Boley of Pleasants County was the only Republican member of the West Virginia Senate in the 1990’s. 

Now, she is the longest serving member of the upper chamber and will preside as Senate President pro-tem.

After Tuesday night’s mid-term election, Boley’s tenure also means she will preside over the next Senate President election in January. 

Boley said Wednesday she was surprised by the Republican sweep, but is unsure, like many others in the chamber, of how to proceed now that the body is evenly spilt between the two parties.

“I thought we would we might pick up three or four more to make 14,” Boley said.  

“You always knew that you were going to elect a Democrat president and you had Democrat chairs,” the Senator said of previous session, “and with this split I’m just not sure how we’re going to handle that.”

But Boley doesn’t believe Republican members will simply give up their claim to leading the chamber.

“I’m sure that since the Republicans fought so hard to get 17 they’re not going to automatically  give up the fact that that they might give up the presidency,” she said.

Boley was first elected to the state senate in 1985.

West Virginia's 2nd Congressional House Seat Remains Red

The seat in the second Congressional Delegation came up for grabs after Shelley Moore Capito decided to run for the United States Senate.

The enthusiasm at the Mooney campaign’s post-election party in Charles Town was anything but quiet. As soon as the polls closed at 7:30 p.m., supporters showed up in droves.

Throughout the evening, the vote tally between Mooney and Casey remained close, but the Republican’s supporters never faltered in confidence.

During the race for the 2nd Congressional District seat, Mooney received some criticism from West Virginians for not being a native of the state. But Mooney says he chose West Virginia because he felt connected to it.

“Many of you know, my family and I are West Virginians by choice,” said Mooney, “and we love this state. West Virginia is our home. We love the natural beauty all around us, we love the friendly, welcoming citizens, and we love that West Virginians are principled fighters.”

Bret Hrbek, one of the many Mooney supporters, had this to say about Mooney’s change in venue.

“Maryland wasn’t very welcoming to him,” noted Hrbek, “so he found a place that he would be able to identify with and be able to represent in a better capacity, because his value system and values are West Virginia values.”

With Mooney’s win, the 2nd Congressional District seat remains red. The seat was previously held by Shelley Moore Capito for 14 years.

On the Democrats side, an enthusiastic room of supporters might have lost their excitement, but stayed committed to the Nick Casey in Charleston as the numbers finally revealed his campaigns demise.

Supporters stuck around and chanted “Nick, Nick, Nick!” as Casey took the podium to deliver the concession speech.

In the end, Casey says he wouldn’t have done anything differently and encourages supporters to keep pride in West Virginia.

“So I ask that you do one thing,” Casey said, “stay invested in to this state. Don’t feel like this is a loss. Feel like this is just another opportunity as we face other opportunities and move forward.”

Credit Jessica Lilly
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Casey hurried to the back after the speech. Several of the supporters expressed their disappointment not only in Casey’s race but also races across the state as Democrats lose several political seats on a national and state level.

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