1996 West Virginia Senate election

1996 West Virginia Senate election

← 1994 November 5, 1996 1998  →
←  These seats' last election (1992) These seats' next election (2000)  →
17 out of 34 seats in the West Virginia Senate 18 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Earl Ray Tomblin Donna Boley Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 1995 January 9, 1991 Leader's seat District 7 District 3 Last election 26 8 Seats after 25 9 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 365,723 178,877 Percentage 67.15% 32.85%
President before election Earl Ray Tomblin Democratic Elected President Earl Ray Tomblin Democratic

The 1996 West Virginia Senate election was held on November 5, 1996, to determine which party would control the West Virginia Senate for the following two years in the 73rd West Virginia legislature. Half out of the 34 seats in the West Virginia Senate were up for election. Prior to the election, 26 seats were held by Democrats and 8 seats were held by Republicans. The general election saw Republicans flip a single seat, meaning that Democrats retained their majority in the State Senate. ^{[1] [2]}

Retirements

Democrats

1. District 6: A. Keith Wagner retired.
2. District 10: Tony E. Whitlow retired.
3. District 13: Joe Manchin retired.
4. District 14: Charles B. Felton Jr. retired.

Republicans

1. District 16: John C. Yoder retired.

Defeated incumbents

In general

Democrats

1. District 1: Thais Blatnik lost re-election to Andy McKenzie.
2. District 8: David Grubb lost re-election to Vic Sprouse.

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. District 4, 2.04%
2. District 8, 2.98% (gain)
3. District 1, 6.96% (gain)

Results

District 1

District 1 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Andy McKenzie	19,158	53.48%
	Democratic	Thais Blatnik (incumbent)	16,666	46.52%
Total votes			35,824	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 2

District 2 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Larry Wiedebusch (incumbent)	18,285	57.19%
	Republican	Donald A. Haskins	13,685	42.81%
Total votes			31,970	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 3

District 3 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Donna Boley (incumbent)	26,632	70.62%
	Democratic	Louis F. Flade	11,079	29.38%
Total votes			37,711	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 4

District 4 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Dittmar (incumbent)	20,861	51.02%
	Republican	Bobby Brown	20,024	48.98%
Total votes			40,885	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 5

District 5 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert H. Plymale (incumbent)	21,023	100.0%
Total votes			21,023	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 6

District 6 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Pat Fanning	20,192	100.0%
Total votes			20,192	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 7

District 7 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Earl Ray Tomblin (incumbent)	25,396	81.45%
	Republican	Stephen Ray Smith	5,783	18.55%
Total votes			31,179	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 8

District 8 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Vic Sprouse	36,042	51.49%
	Democratic	David Grubb (incumbent)	33,957	48.51%
Total votes			69,999	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 9

District 9 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Billy Wayne Bailey (incumbent)	20,795	83.59%
	Republican	R. Joseph Whelan	4,081	16.41%
Total votes			24,876	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 10

District 10 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Homer K. Ball	23,754	100.0%
Total votes			23,754	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 11

District 11 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Shirley Love (incumbent)	24,769	72.36%
	Republican	Jim Gilkeson	9,462	27.64%
Total votes			34,231	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 12

District 12 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William R. Sharpe Jr. (incumbent)	25,767	66.87%
	Republican	David Craft	12,765	33.13%
Total votes			38,532	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 13

District 13 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Roman Prezioso	30,773	100.0%
Total votes			30,773	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 14

District 14 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jon Blair Hunter	21,195	57.36%
	Republican	Thomas H. Hudgins Jr.	15,753	42.64%
Total votes			36,948	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 15

District 15 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Ross (incumbent)	27,314	100.0%
Total votes			27,314	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 16

District 16 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Herb Snyder	19,277	55.44%
	Republican	Mel Bowers Jr.	15,492	44.56%
Total votes			34,769	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 17

District 17 election, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Martha Yeager Walker (incumbent)	46,201	100.0%
Total votes			46,201	100.0%
	Democratic hold

References

1. "West Virginia Blue Book 1997" (PDF). wvlegislature.gov. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
2. "1996 General Election Results" (PDF). West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2025.