West Virginia Democratic Party Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. Political Party Leaders Assess Imbalance Of Power, Future Goals

As lawmakers prepare for the upcoming 2023 general session, they do so with a near historic imbalance of political party power.

The leaders of both state political parties went into detail on what brought them to this point, and their expectations for the future.

West Virginia Republican Party Chair Elgine McArdle said party dominance in both the general election and the state legislature – 88 to 12 in the House, 31 to 3 in the Senate – means the impact of this “supermajority’s” constituents will be clearly heard.

“I would hope that the conservative principles that have echoed through the state of West Virginia would continue to be put into law,” McArdle said. “I guess it’s just in conservative values on fiscal responsibility to carry through.”

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, is the West Virginia Democratic Party Chair. He said Democrats have a lot of work before them to organize from the ground up. He attributed the election losses in part to branding, blaming concerns about inflation and economy on the national Democratic Party. He also said it was no coincidence the historic defeats came directly after redistricting.

“The maps were definitely drawn to favor the party in power, the Republicans. In certain districts that made it very difficult for us to win,” Pushkin said. “We found that our candidates, if you look at their numbers versus the modeling that we had, really did quite well and overperformed. But it just wasn’t enough to overcome the gerrymandering that was done by the Republican Party.”

McArdle said the fact that so many candidates won, but every amendment Republicans supported lost was not a matter of voter disconnect. She blamed the defeats on a lack of voter education and research.

“Individuals have to do their own research and look at why a particular amendment is being pushed. And not so much listen to media or rhetoric that is being promoted by an individual or individual groups,” McArdle said.

“There were a lot of people who didn’t test the vote at all, one way or the other, for or against the amendments, because they just simply didn’t know what they were about.”

Pushkin said suggesting a lack of voter education and research in the amendment losses was an insult to voters.

“They voted no, because they saw it as a power grab from the state legislature, power grabbing by the Republican Party,” Pushkin said. “I think people still believe in checks and balances, people still believe in separation of power, something our country was founded on.”

McArdle charged her party’s elected representatives with committing to their campaign rhetoric as responsibility.

“They should all remember the promises that they made during the election and keep those promises to the constituents that put them there,” McArdel said.

Pushkin said the democratic hope is to work with representatives in a bipartisan manner on populist policy, not politics.

“The state has a whole lot of serious problems, whether it’s 7,000 children in foster care, our high rate of infant mortality, a whole host of poor public health outcomes, improvement of our public schools, access to health care,” Pushkin said. “I would hope that’s where we placed the focus and not on whatever kind of hot button political issue that they’re going to use to gin up the base.”

The 2023 general legislative session begins January 11th, and runs for 60 days.

What's Next For Republicans And Democrats In The Legislature?

Republicans bolstered their supermajority on election night but Democrats say they will continue to work for policies that help people.

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Morgan, said he’s buoyed by a 30 to 4 Republican supermajority (what he now calls a super-super majority) in the senate, but he also said that comes with a caveat.

“We’re really good at getting our candidates across the finish line,” Blair said. “But we got some learning to do on how to get amendments done.”

All four proposed amendments to the state constitution failed Tuesday night. Blair said, following the failure of Amendment 2 which would have given the legislature the ability to change or delete property taxes, the legislature needs to continue promoting a drug-free, educated workforce and do a better job educating voters on state revenues. But he said it will be tough to bury the political hatchet with Gov. Jim Justice who opposed Amendment 2.

“I find it off-putting that we’ve been called ‘the swamp’ and we’ve basically been called ‘mired in debt,’” Blair said. “We were called corrupt and that’s not true.”

Re-elected, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said, as state Democratic party chair, he’ll continue a non-partisan push for policies to help West Virginians.

He did see an election night bright spot in voters defeating all four amendments.

“They still have a very healthy mistrust of Republican policy,” Pushkin said. “They did not want the Republican legislature in control of county budgets. They didn’t want the Republican legislature in control of our public education.”

Pushkin says any compromise in tax reform moving forward needs to be citizen-centric.

“It must be about giving tax relief to the people who really really need it,” Pushkin said. “Not just to the wealthiest West Virginians or to out of state corporations.”

Election results become official when certified by county clerks next week.

W.Va. Primary: Incumbent Face-Offs, Redistricting And Party Switching

Redistricting in West Virginia has led to some House and Senate incumbents running against each other on May 10th.

Incumbent Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell, and Ric Griffith, D-Wayne, are colleagues and friends. Lovejoy, a third term delegate and Cabell County attorney, said this race is a bit troubling.

“It’s a bummer,” Lovejoy said. “The truth is, Rick’s a good friend of mine. He’s a good Democrat. He’s a good delegate. And it’s just unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

Griffith, who owns a Wayne County pharmacy, is completing his first term in the House. He said running against Lovejoy is disheartening.

“I care deeply about serving as does Chad,” Griffith said. “And so we’re just gonna have to face this and see what happens. But it’s an unfortunate circumstance.”

Both candidates were asked to explain some key issues they think need the West Virginia Legislature’s immediate attention. They said economic development with job creation and retention topped their lists.

Lovejoy expressed the importance of stewardship with all the federal funds becoming available.

“The federal monies from the infrastructure bill, the American rescue plan, there’s going to be a lot of decisions made as we go forward on how this money is going to be used in West Virginia,” Lovejoy said. “And a lot of that is going to be appropriated by the legislature. So I want to make sure that our area has a seat at the table.”

Griffith said tourism is driving much of the state’s economic development, but he said you can’t promote West Virginia without cleaning it up. He has a plan to clear littered, unsightly homes by offering incentives first, penalties second.

“I think we ought to have a fund that creates an ability to go to a poor person or just a negligent person’s home and say, okay, we will fine you,” Griffith said. “But you gotta clean this up. We’ll help you haul it off and if not, you will be fined.”

The entire 100 member House of Delegates is up for election. More than half the incumbents have no opposition in the May primary.

Half of the 34-member Senate is up for election. Republicans hold a 23-11 supermajority in that chamber. Several of the districts were realigned during redistricting, but the total number stayed the same.

A number of Senate primary races feature incumbent vs. incumbent, candidates switching political parties, candidates moving from house to senate and a former U.S attorney running for state senate.

They include:

District 1: Sen. Owens Brown, D-Ohio, and former Del. Randy Swartzmiller

District 3: Sen Mike Azinger, R-Wood and Del. John Kelly, R-Wood

District 7: Former U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart is running against Chad McCormick in the republican Primary.

District 9: Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, and current Del. and former Democrat Mick Bates, R-Raleigh;

District 13: Former Senate Democrat Mike Oliverio plans to seek office again, this time as a Republican and fellow Morgantown resident Barbara Evans Fleischauer, a longtime House Democrat. Both have primary opposition.

WVPB and the Secretary of State’s office have more information on the West Virginia Primary and casting your vote.

Registered Republicans Outnumber Democrats In West Virginia

The red wave that has swept West Virginia over the past decade now includes historic gains in Republican voter registration numbers, according to figures released Thursday.

There are now about 448,900 registered Republicans, or 36.8% of all registered voters in West Virginia, according to figures released by the secretary of state’s office. That compares to about 444,600 registered Democrats, or 36.5%.

“It’s an exciting day for the West Virginia Republican Party!” Roman Stauffer, the state Republican Party’s acting chairman, said in a statement.

An additional 275,000 registered voters, or 22.6%, had no party affiliation. The rest were affiliated with minor political parties.

According to the GOP, 11 counties switched from Democrat to Republican pluralities in 2020, and 24 of the 55 counties are now Republican majority or plurality. Berkeley County saw an increase of 3,694 Republican voters, the most in the state, the statement said.

In November, Shelley Moore Capito became the first Republican from West Virginia reelected to the U.S. Senate since 1907. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who won his third term in November, is the first Republican attorney general to hold the position since 1933.

Democratic voter registration numbers in West Virginia have been dropping over the past decade, buoyed by criticism of former two-term President Barack Obama’s energy policies in coal-rich West Virginia. In 2014, registered Democrats in West Virginia fell below 50% for the first time since 1932.

Republicans made major gains when Capito won the 2014 Senate race and helped other candidates capture all the state’s U.S. House seats for the first time since 1921. After the 2014 election, the GOP took control of the state Senate and House of Delegates from Democrats for the first time in more than eight decades.

Donald Trump won 68% of the state vote in the presidential race in 2016 and about 69% of the vote in November. A Democratic presidential candidate has not carried West Virginia since Bill Clinton in 1996.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is the only Democrat to currently hold statewide office.

West Virginia Dems Question Gov. Justice’s Proposed Income Tax Reduction, Criticize Lack Of Broadband Discussion

Democrats in the West Virginia Legislature are criticizing Gov. Jim Justice’s State of the State address as being vague on details about a major tax reform proposal and lacking discussion about other key issues, including broadband expansion.

Leaders from the minority party offered their response Thursday to Justice’s address during a news conference at the Capitol, with House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, and Sen. Richard Lindsay, D-Kanawha, speaking on behalf of their respective caucuses.

“It was very much deja vu. It was very similar to past state of the state speeches. Big on sound bites, little on substance,” Fluharty said.

Among Justice’s top priorities announced Wednesday is the reduction of the state’s personal income tax. Revenue from the tax makes up $2.1 billion — or more than 40 percent — of the current fiscal year’s $4.6 billion general revenue budget.

Justice said Wednesday he wants to cut the income tax in half for everyone except the state’s “super-high earners,” who he said would see a reduction by one-third. Democrats noted Thursday they are unaware of what income threshold would determine a person’s level of tax relief.

To account for the loss in revenue, Justice is calling for a slew of tax increases — including a restructuring of taxes on oil, gas and coal, as well as hiking taxes on consumer sales by 1.5 percent. Another proposal would increase taxes on soda and tobacco. Justice also called for a tax on the state’s most wealthy.

Justice also offered another unique way to backfill any lost revenue, proposing to put unspent federal coronavirus relief dollars in a “bucket” as a reserve. For months, Democrats had called on the governor to call lawmakers back into session to appropriate funds from the CARES Act and other federal dollars that have come to the state, although no such session ever took place.

“During that time since March, how many businesses have closed? How many people have been harmed by his conduct of sitting on this money designed to help them?” Fluharty asked rhetorically.

According to the state auditor’s office, the state had more than $665 million in unspent CARES Act funds as of Monday, Feb. 8.

Justice and other Republican leaders — including Senate President Craig Blair — have promised that the reduction of the personal income tax will be neutral or possibly offer citizens some tax relief. But Democrats said Thursday they remain wary of such a promise, especially with specifics on the proposed tax shifts not yet public.

“I do find it hard to believe that most West Virginians will see a net relief on their taxes, based upon what he said last night,” Lindsay said.

Democrats also took issue with little mention of broadband expansion in Justice’s roughly hour-long speech.

“Before the election, the governor and all the Republicans got together and promised broadband infrastructure. [They] promised it — you’ll have $100 million in the budget. We got one sentence on broadband last night in the State of the State — one,” Lindsay said. And even more importantly, there’s no $100 million in the state budget for broadband this year, not even mentioned.”

With Republicans holding supermajorities in both the House and Senate, minority Democrats say they’re hoping to have as much influence in shaping policy.

“Ideas, good or bad, usually don’t have a party designation — to the extent that I’m not going to refuse an idea just because it comes from a [Republican],” Lindsay said. “No one has a monopoly on good ideas or good policies. So, I hope that we are included in these discussions.”

Legislation on the proposed income tax reduction has not yet been introduced or made public by the Governor’s office.

West Virginia’s Key Primaries, The Race For The Supreme Court And The Divide Over Absentee Voting

Before the coronavirus made its way to West Virginia and delayed the state’s primary, the upcoming election was already shaping up to be one of the most closely watched in recent years.

With the election now moved to Tuesday, June 9, the spotlight has remained on some races, while each party has taken strong positions when it comes to absentee mail-in voting.

West Virginia Wesleyan College political science professor Robert Rupp said the upcoming primary stands out for a few reasons.

“One is we’ve moved the date. And second of all, we’re changing the method we vote by [making] this big push for absenteeism,” Rupp said. “So it’s a historic primary in many ways — and because of the virus, it’s been underreported and hardly seen.”

Gubernatorial Primaries Pivotal For Each Party

Rupp points to each party’s gubernatorial primary as being a pivotal moment in the state’s political history — namely, because incumbent governors are rarely challenged within their own party.

Gov. Jim Justice is one exception to that rule, with former state commerce secretary and businessman Woody Thrasher and former Del. Michael Folk among the top challengers running to win the GOP nomination.

Rupp said Justice has some “baggage” coming into the Republican primary because the billionaire businessman-turned-politician was elected as a Democrat in 2016 before switching parties seven months into his term. Further, an ongoing lawsuit claims that Justice has violated a constitutional mandate that the governor must reside in the state capital.

“I’m going to be looking to see if that baggage is going to make a surprise in the primary — because he’s a very unusual governor in this state,” Rupp said.

But Rupp said the race for the Republican nomination for governor isn’t the most intriguing aspect of this year’s primary for the state’s top office. That, he said, comes from the other side of the aisle — with eight Democratic candidates in the race.

“The fact is that the Democratic Party is in the middle of an identity crisis,” Rupp said. “If Republicans have to decide if they want to keep the current Republican governor, Democrats have to decide which way they’re going. Are they reformist with a revolution? What should the party do since it obtained minority status?”

Top contenders in the race for the Democratic nomination are Kanawha County Commissioner Ben Salango, community organizer Stephen Smith, and physician and state senator Ron Stollings.

Salango has the backing of state Democratic stalwart U.S. Senator Joe Manchin. Smith is running a grassroots, small-dollar fundraising campaign that promises sweeping social reforms for the state. And Stollings, touting his experience in state government, has positioned himself as a moderate.

As President Carmichael Gets A Challenge, GOP Touts Party Strength

Rupp said the gubernatorial primaries are the main races to watch, but he points to other marquee figures in the state’s political sphere that are facing challenges within their own parties. Most notably, the president of the state Senate.

“Mitch Carmichael is being challenged in the Republican primary. This shouldn’t be happening, according to history or textbook,” Rupp said.

Carmichael, who drew the ire of West Virginia teachers over the past two years as he pushed for charter schools and other controversial education reforms, is running against Del. Jim Butler for the 4th Senatorial District.

Butler has positioned himself as more conservative than Carmichael — taking aim at Carmichael’s push for a “last dollar in” grant program for community college and expressing tepid support for equal rights for LGBTQ communities.

While political parties are timid when it comes to weighing in on their own primaries, West Virginia Republican Party executive director Byron Fisher said the GOP has continued to pick up momentum since taking control of the statehouse in 2014, evidenced by a long list of candidates in the 2020 primary.

Part of that, Fisher said, is President Donald Trump’s big win here in 2016.

“Republicans were already moving — West Virginia was already moving that way — when President Trump was elected,” Fisher said. “So I think it’s his popularity. But it’s also the values that the policies that he and the Republican Party espouse and seek to implement.”

Fisher also noted that Republicans have a candidate on the ballot in all races, except for three seats in the House of Delegates.

“It is a sign of a strong, vibrant, growing party. But we have a lot of candidates interested in the office of Governor or any office that we have that’s contested,” Fisher said. “It means that the nomination is something worth having and the Republican Party in West Virginia is strong.”

Non-Partisan Supreme Court Races Get Partisan Influence

The West Virginia Republican Party is closely watching the three open seats on the state Supreme Court that will be decided this upcoming election, Fisher said. While those races are non-partisan, the state GOP has endorsed three candidates: current Justice Tim Armstead, Fifth Judicial Circuit Judge Lora Dyer and Putnam County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kris Raynes.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily partisan, but there is a certain view that does seem to fall down partisan lines,” Fisher said of the races.

Campaign finance reports reflect a partisan influence on the races for the state’s high court.

The Republican State Leadership Committee’s Judicial Fairness Initiative has spent more $300,000 to support Armstead, Dyer and Raynes. That independent expenditure committee, which donates money to support or oppose candidates without coordinating with a campaign, also has spent more than $430,000 to oppose former Justice Richard Neely.

Another such group, Re Set West Virginia, has spent more than $790,000 trying to influence the races for seats on the state’s high court, supporting current Justice John Hutchison, former Justice Neely and Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit. The group has sought to remove Justice Armstead.

Democrats worry the non-partisan Supreme Court races — which will ultimately be decided in the June 9 election — will be confusing for some voters.

“In my books, there’s no such thing as non-partisan. And we absolutely identify who the Democrats in those races are.” West Virginia Democratic Party chair Belinda Biafore said.

Before West Virginia made its judicial races non-partisan in 2016, judges and candidates clearly identified with one party or another, a system Biafore said worked much better.

“The only way that voters really had a way to gauge who would be a good Supreme Court justice or a magistrate or judge was to know if they were a Democrat or Republican,” Biafore said. “Because knowing how they were registered would give you a good idea of knowing what they stood for and what values and things were important to them.”

Democrats Eye November Races, Hope To Chip Away At Republican Statehouse Majority

Biafore said Democrats are watching Republicans in the state Senate and how races have already shaped up for November, including the seat currently occupied by Senate Education Chair Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson.

“I think the voters over there felt like she doesn’t listen to what they have to say when it [comes] to charter schools,” Biafore said of Rucker. “They were not in favor of them — but yet she did everything in her power to make sure that that passed — and I think that she lost touch with folks over there.”

Jefferson County Sheriff Pete Dougherty, a Democrat, is running against Rucker for the state’s 16th Senatorial District. Both are uncontested in their respective primaries and will face off in November.

But Biafore said she and the Democrats are closely watching other Republicans primary races, especially Carmichael’s.

“He’s at the top of our list, should he even make it through the primary,” Biafore said. “But, we’re looking at taking him out.”

Parties Split On Absentee Mail-In Voting

While each party looks forward to seeing who will make the ballot come November, another ideological battle is brewing this election cycle: expanded absentee voting because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Following President Donald Trump’s lead, Republicans across the country are taking issue with the widespread implementation of absentee voting through mail. Fisher, for one, questionedthe integrity of widespread use of the practice.

“There are reasons why people vote absentee. And so that is certainly valid. But in terms of this upcoming election, we’re really encouraging people encouraging Republicans to vote early in person or vote on Election Day in person, if at all possible,” Fisher said.

West Virginia’s chief elections officer, Secretary of State Mac Warner, recently sent allegations of mail-in fraud to the state’s U.S. Attorneys for further investigation. Details of the alleged fraud scheme are scant at this point and U.S. Attorneys Mike Stuart and William Powell have offered no insight as to what, if any, charges may be brought.

As the battle over absentee mail-in voting continues, Biafore argues the practice has been around for some time and works just fine.

“The real disappointment I find is that the governor and the Attorney General and the Secretary of State also worked with the county, the state chairmen, and came up with this plan, introduced this plan and now, all of a sudden, it’s not a good plan,” Biafore said. “I think that’s unfortunate.”

West Virginia Wesleyan’s Rupp said voters should expect to see more nontraditional ways of voting being used in the future. He said the squabble over absentee voting misses the true intent of our election system and democracy in general.

“My belief is that within 10 years, we’ll probably not only be voting by mail, we’ll probably be doing it online — if we have the technology to do it,” Rupp said. “Because the key isn’t showing up on Election Day. The key is a referendum that is honest for voters to express their opinion.”

The deadline to submit an application for an absentee ballot is Wednesday, June 3. Those mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, Tuesday, June 9. Early voting starts Wednesday, May 27, and runs through the Saturday before the election.