Jennings Randolph Story Archives - Page 2 of 2 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

January 14, 1957: Cecil Underwood Inaugurated State's Youngest Governor

On January 14, 1957, Cecil Underwood became West Virginia’s youngest governor. The 34-year-old Tyler County native also became the state’s first Republican governor in 24 years.

Underwood pledged to hire qualified personnel, keep taxes low, reform state purchasing, improve roads and education, and attract new industry. A Democratic-controlled legislature blocked most of his agenda. Most notably, it slashed 90 percent from Underwood’s proposed $500 million road program. However, he was able to pass measures to provide emergency benefits to unemployed miners and to create a new economic development agency.

The state constitution barred Underwood from running for a second term. Instead, he ran for U.S. Senate in 1960 and lost to incumbent Jennings Randolph. He fell short in his attempts to regain the governorship in 1964, ’68, and ’76. During this time, he held executive positions with coal and chemical companies and served as Bethany College’s president. After years out of the political spotlight, he launched a comeback in 1996. He defeated Charlotte Pritt for governor and took office at age 75. This time, he became West Virginia’s oldest governor.

Cecil Underwood died in 2008 at age 86.

Over a Thousand High School Students Registered to Vote

Last Month, more than a thousand West Virginia high school students registered to vote. Secretary of State Mac Warner says he hopes to see even more eligible young voters sign up to vote in November.

Thirteen high schools across West Virginia conducted voter registration drives in the month of October. Secretary of State Mac Warner said these drives show the, “level of commitment school administrators have for the civic engagement of our youngest voters.”

The Secretary’s Office recognizes high schools who register 100 percent of their students. Those schools will receive the Jennings Randolph Award. The award is named for former U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph from West Virginia, who in 1971 helped pass the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That legislation lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

Last school year, a record high of 16 high schools across the Mountain State earned the Jennings Randolph award. Another 14 voter registration drives are being planned in the month of November.

January 18, 1958: Senator Matthew Neely Dies

On January 18, 1958, Matthew Neely died in Washington, D. C., while serving in the U.S. Senate. Neely, who died at age 83, was one of the leading political figures in West Virginia history.

Over his long political career, the Democrat served two terms as mayor of Fairmont, five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, one term as governor, and parts of five terms in the U.S. Senate.

Perhaps most significantly, though, Neely headed the powerful pro-labor liberal faction of the state’s Democratic Party from the 1930s until his death.

After Neely’s death, Governor Cecil Underwood appointed Republican John Hoblitzell to fill the seat until a special election could be held. In the Democratic primary, former Congressman Jennings Randolph defeated William Marland, who’d recently left the governor’s office. Randolph went on to unseat Hoblitzell and serve 27 years in the Senate, stepping down in 1985. He was succeeded by Jay Rockefeller. In the same 1958 election that introduced Randolph to the Senate, Robert C. Byrd defeated incumbent Republican Chapman Revercomb, beginning what would become the longest Senate career in U.S. history.