2026 West Virginia Senate election

Last updated

2026 West Virginia Senate election
Flag of West Virginia.svg
  2024 November 3, 20262028 

18 of 34 seats in the West Virginia Senate
18 seats needed for a majority
 
Leader Randy Smith Mike Woelfel
Party Republican Democratic
Leader sinceJanuary 8, 2025January 11, 2023
Leader's seat 14thPreston 5thCabell
Last election16 seats, 79.30%1 seat, 19.61%
Current seats322
Seats neededSteady2.svgIncrease2.svg 16
Seats up171

2026 West Virginia State Senate election incumbents.svg
Status of the incumbents:
     Republican incumbent     Democratic incumbent
Circular inset (District 17): special election

Incumbent Senate President

Randy Smith
Republican



The 2026 West Virginia Senate election will be held on November 3, 2026, alongside the other 2026 United States elections. [1] Voters will elect half the members of the West Virginia Senate to serve a four-year term. [2] Primary elections will be held on May 12, 2026.

Contents

As of October 14, 2025, there were 31 active candidacies for the 2026 state senate election. [3]

Partisan background

According to data from Dave's Redistricting, 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump won every West Virginia Senate district in the 2024 presidential election. [4]

District 1

Republican primary

Declared

Official campaign Web sites

District 2

Republican primary

Declared

Democratic primary

Declared

  • Chris Claypole

Official campaign Web sites

District 3

Republican primary

Declared

District 4

Republican primary

Declared

  • Phillip D. Surface [3]
  • Kenneth D. Matthews Jr. [3]
  • Travis Willard

Potential

Official campaign Web sites

District 5

Democratic primary

Potential

District 6

Republican primary

Declared

  • Jeff Disibbio, Democratic nominee for this district in 2024 [3]
  • Mark R. Maynard, incumbent senator since 2015 [3]
  • Robert "Rocky" Seay, Democratic nominee for this district in 2016 [3]

District 7

The District 7 seat up in 2026 has been vacant since the resignation of Michael B. Stuart in October 2025. Stuart, first elected in 2022, was appointed General Counsel to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [5]

Republican primary

Filed

District 8

Republican primary

Declared

  • T. Kevan Bartlett, incumbent senator since 2025 [3]
  • Steven Eshenaur, veteran and physician [3]
  • Lance V. Wheeler, Republican primary candidate for this district in 2014 [3]

Mountain primary

Declared

  • Chase Linko-Looper, Mountain nominee for governor in 2024 [3]

Official campaign Web sites

District 9

Republican primary

Declared

Official campaign Web sites

District 10

Republican primary

Declared

Official campaign Web sites

District 11

Republican primary

Declared

District 12

Republican primary

Declared

District 13

Republican primary

Potential

District 14

Republican primary

Declared

District 15

Republican primary

Declared

Potential

District 16

Republican primary

Declared

Official campaign Web sites

District 17 (regular)

Republican primary

Declared

Disqualified

District 17 (special)

Republican primary

Declared

Notes

  1. Phillip's seat is up in 2028. He has not filed a candidacy for 2028 as of October 14, 2025, but has filed a candidacy for 2026.

References

  1. Booker, Brakkton (2025-07-29). "The 2026 midterms are officially underway". POLITICO. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
  2. "West Virginia State Senate elections, 2026". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 "Candidates & Committees". West Virginia Secretary of State. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  4. "WV 2022 State Senate". Dave's Redistricting . Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  5. Patterson, Jessica (9 October 2025). "Stuart resigns from West Virginia Senate for new federal role". WOWK-TV . Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  6. West Virginia Blue Book, 2018 (PDF). 2018. p. 470. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  7. Kirk, Sam (11 June 2025). "Doug Skaff killed in collision with tractor trailer on I-79 in Lewis County". WVNS TV . Retrieved 10 October 2025.