2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election

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2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election
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←  2008 October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04) 2012  →
  Earl Ray Tomblin 2 (cropped).jpg Bill Maloney.jpg
Nominee Earl Ray Tomblin Bill Maloney
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote149,202141,656
Percentage49.6%47.0%
2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election results map by county.svg
County results
Tomblin:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Maloney:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Governor before election

Earl Ray Tomblin (acting)
Democratic

Elected Governor

Earl Ray Tomblin
Democratic

The 2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election was a special election held on October 4, 2011 to fill the office of the West Virginia Governor, which became vacant upon the resignation of Joe Manchin, who resigned after he won a U.S. Senate special election. Lieutenant Governor and Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, first in the line of succession to the Governorship, subsequently became acting governor. On January 18, 2011, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that a special election for the Governorship must be held so a new governor can be in place by November 15, 2011, exactly one year after Manchin resigned. [1] The primary election was held on May 14. Tomblin and Republican Bill Maloney won their respective primaries. [2]

Contents

Tomblin defeated William Maloney by a slim margin, notably winning over 90% of the vote in his home county of Logan County. Tomblin was declared the winner of the election by the Associated Press on October 4, 2011 and was inaugurated on November 13, 2011. [3] [4] With a margin of 2.5%, the special election was the closest race of the 2011 gubernatorial election cycle. Tomblin was re-elected in 2012 in a rematch with Maloney.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

  • Brooks McCabe, state senator [11]
  • Charlotte Pritt, former state senator, Democratic primary candidate for governor in 1992, Democratic nominee for governor in 1996 and write-in candidate for governor in 1992, and Mountain Party nominee for governor in 2016 [12]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		Jeff
Kessler		Arne
Moltis		John
Perdue		Natalie
Tennant		Rick
Thompson		Earl Ray
Tomblin		Other/
Undecided
Public Policy Polling May 11–12, 2011742± 3.6%4%1%11%17%20%33%12%
Public Policy Polling April 21–24, 2011590± 4.0%5%1%17%16%15%32%14%

Primary results

Democratic primary results by county: .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Tomblin 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 80-90% Thompson 40-50% 60-70% Tennant 30-40% Perdue 30-40% 40-50% Kessler 40-50% 60-70% West Virginia gubernatorial Democratic primary, 2011.svg
Democratic primary results by county:
  Tomblin
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   80–90%
  Thompson
  •   40–50%
  •   60–70%
  Tennant
  •   30–40%
  Perdue
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  Kessler
  •   40–50%
  •   60–70%
Democratic primary results [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Earl Ray Tomblin (incumbent) 51,348 40.4%
Democratic Rick Thompson30,63124.1%
Democratic Natalie Tennant22,10617.4%
Democratic John Perdue15,99512.6%
Democratic Jeff Kessler6,6655.2%
Democratic Arne Moltis4810.4%
Total votes127,111 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		Clark
Barnes		Mitch
Carmichael		Ralph
Clark		Cliff
Ellis		Larry
Faircloth		Betty
Ireland		Bill
Maloney		Mark
Sorsaia		Other/
Undecided
Public Policy Polling May 11–12, 2011314± 5.5%8%4%1%0%6%31%32%4%14%
Public Policy Polling April 21–24, 2011274± 5.9%8%8%2%1%2%31%17%4%28%

Primary results

Maloney 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Ireland 30-40% 40-50% Barnes 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Faircloth 30-40% 2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special Republican primary election results map by county.svg
  Maloney
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Ireland
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  Barnes
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60-70%
  •   70-80%
  Faircloth
  •   30–40%
Republican primary results [21]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bill Maloney 27,871 45.0%
Republican Betty Ireland19,02730.7%
Republican Clark Barnes5,8919.5%
Republican Mark Sorsaia3,1775.1%
Republican Larry Faircloth2,4003.9%
Republican Mitch Carmichael2,0733.3%
Republican Ralph Clark1,1641.9%
Republican Cliff Ellis2830.5%
Total votes61,886 100.0%

General election

Candidates

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Rothenberg Political Report [25] Lean DNovember 4, 2011
Governing [26] Lean DNovember 4, 2011
Cook [27] Lean DNovember 4, 2011
Sabato [28] Likely DNovember 4, 2011

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		Earl Ray
Tomblin (D)		Bill
Maloney (R)		Undecided
Public Policy Polling September 30 – October 2, 2011932± 3.2%47%46%7%
Public Policy Polling September 1–4, 2011708± 3.7%46%40%14%
Public Policy Polling May 11–12, 2011723± 3.6%45%30%25%
Public Policy Polling April 21–24, 2011850± 3.4%56%23%21%

Results

West Virginia gubernatorial special election official results, 2011 [29]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Earl Ray Tomblin (incumbent) 149,202 49.55% -20.26
Republican Bill Maloney 141,65647.05%+21.32
Mountain Bob Henry Baber6,0832.02%-2.44
Independent Marla Ingels2,8750.95%
American Third Position Harry Bertram1,1110.37%+0.37
write-in candidate Phil Hudok760.03%
write-in candidate Donald Lee Underwood540.02%
write-in candidate John R. "Rick" Bartlett270.01%
Margin of victory7,5462.51%-41.57%
Total votes301,084 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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References

  1. ↑ Sobel, Julie (January 18, 2011). "Court Orders West Virginia Special Election This Year". National Journal . Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  2. ↑ Catanese, David (May 14, 2011). "Tomblin, Maloney win in West Virginia - David Catanese". Politico.Com. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  3. ↑ "News from The Associated Press". Hosted.ap.org. October 5, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  4. ↑ Kaull, April. "Earl Ray Tomblin Sworn in as W.Va. Governor - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports". Wowktv.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  5. ↑ Forbes, Jim (October 28, 2010). "State Sen. Jeff Kessler Eyes W.Va. Governor's Mansion". WTRF-TV . Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 Mannix Porterfield (February 13, 2011). "14 candidates for W.Va. governor ready to fight for the office". The Register-Herald. Beckley, West Virginia.
  7. ↑ Dickerson, Chris (October 6, 2010). "Perdue names former Dem chair to head campaign". Charleston Daily Mail. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  8. ↑ King, Joselyn (February 10, 2011). "Tennant Jumps Into Race For Governor". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register . Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  9. ↑ Dickerson, Chris (November 3, 2010). "Thompson says he'll be on gubernatorial ballot". West Virginia Record . Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  10. 1 2 Knezevich, Alison (January 8, 2011). "W.Va. governor race begins". The Charleston Gazette . Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Brooks McCabe to Run For Governor". WOWK-TV . August 27, 2010. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Charlotte Pritt says she won't run for governor". Charleston Daily Mail. February 12, 2011. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  13. ↑ Archived September 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Simmons, Ben (October 5, 2010). "Barnes will seek governor's seat". The Inter-Mountain . Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  15. ↑ Edwards, Jeremy (December 30, 2010). "Betty Ireland Announces Run for Governor". WSAZ-TV . Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  16. 1 2 "Candidate field for governor grows to 7". Associated Press. February 2, 2011. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  17. ↑ McVey, John (January 20, 2011). "Capito is pleased with special election decision". The Journal . Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  18. ↑ Bissett, Jim (January 30, 2011). "Jon McBride says he's not running again". The Dominion Post . McClatchy-Tribune (MCT). Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011– via Charleston Daily Mail.
  19. ↑ "Raese Not Running". West Virginia MetroNews . February 7, 2011. Archived from the original on March 15, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  20. ↑ Mancini, Jess (February 1, 2011). "Stuart not running for governor". The Parkersburg News and Sentinel . Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  21. ↑ Archived October 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ Jared Hunt (May 3, 2011). "Mountain Party selects gubernatorial candidate". Charleston Daily Mail. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  23. 1 2 3 "2011 Write-in Candidates for Governor". Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  24. 1 2 "2011 Candidates for Governor". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Gubernatorial Ratings | Inside Elections". www.insideelections.com.
  26. ↑ "An Update on the 2011-2012 Gubernatorial Contests". Governing. July 25, 2011. Archived from the original on August 1, 2011.
  27. ↑ "2011/2012 GOVERNORS RACE RATINGS". The Cook Political Report. September 15, 2011. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011.
  28. ↑ "2012 Governor". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 29, 2012.
  29. ↑ "WV SOS - Elections - Election Results - Online Data Services".
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