2026 West Virginia Senate election

2026 West Virginia Senate election

←  2024 November 3, 2026 2028 →
18 of 34 seats in the West Virginia Senate (17 regular, 1 special) 18 seats needed for a majority
Leader Randy Smith Mike Woelfel Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 8, 2025 January 11, 2023 Leader's seat 14th–Preston 5th–Cabell Last election 16 seats, 79.30% 1 seat, 19.61% Current seats 32 2 Seats needed 16 Seats up 17 1
Status of the incumbents:      Republican incumbent     Democratic incumbent Circular inset (District 17): special election
Incumbent Senate President Randy Smith Republican

Not to be confused with 2026 United States Senate election in West Virginia.

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.

As of November 1, 2025, there were 34 active candidacies for the 2026 state senate election. ^[3]

This election will take place alongside races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state house, and numerous other state and local elections.

Crossover seat

Only one state senate district, District 5, voted for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2024 and a Democratic state senate nominee at the 2022 general election:

District	Delegate	Residence	Senate vote	Presidential vote
5th	Mike Woelfel	Huntington	D+12.0	R+24.7

Competitive seats

According to data from Dave's Redistricting, 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump won every West Virginia Senate district in the 2024 presidential election. This is a list of state senate seats that either were decided by fewer than 15 points at the 2022 general election, or voted for a 2024 presidential nominee by fewer than 15 points:

District	Delegate	Residence	Senate vote	Presidential vote [4]
5th	Mike Woelfel	Huntington	D+12.0	R+24.7
8th	T. Kevan Bartlett	Sissonville	R+13.6	R+24.2
13th	Mike Oliverio	Morgantown	R+0.6	R+5.6

Appointments

According to §3-10-5 of West Virginia Code, vacancies in the state senate are filled through appointment by the Governor of one of three candidates chosen by the executive committee of the outgoing member's party. ^[5] Below is a list of appointments made during the 86th Legislature.

District	Incumbent		Party	Appointee		Ref.
	Departing member	First elected		Incoming member	Appt. date
7th	Michael B. Stuart	2022	Rep	Zack Maynard	October 30, 2025	[6]
17th	Eric Nelson	2020	Rep	Anne Charnock	February 4, 2025	[7]

District 1

Republican primary

Filed

• Laura Chapman, incumbent senator ^[3]
• Joe Eddy, CEO ^[3]

District 2

Republican primary

Filed

• Bob Dobkin, attorney ^[3]
• Toby Heaney, veteran and economist ^[3]

Declined

• Charles H. Clements, incumbent senator ^[8]

Endorsements

Bob Dobkin

Politicians

• Charles H. Clements, incumbent senator since 2017 ^[8]

Democratic primary

Filed

• Chris Claypole

District 3

Republican primary

Filed

• Mike Azinger, incumbent senator ^[3]
• William Wesley Cox ^[3]

District 4

Republican primary

Filed

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

Potential

• Eric Tarr, incumbent senator

District 5

Democratic primary

Potential

• Mike Woelfel, incumbent senator

District 6

Republican primary

Filed

• Jeff Disibbio, Democratic nominee for this district in 2024 ^[3]
• Mark R. Maynard, incumbent senator ^[3]
• Robert "Rocky" Seay, Democratic nominee for this district in 2016 ^[3]
• Edwin Ray Vanover, Democratic nominee for the 26th delegate district 2012 ^[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. ^[9]

Republican primary

Filed

• Zack Maynard, incumbent delegate since 2025 ^[3]
• Rupie Phillips, this district's other senator ^{[a] [3]}

District 8

Republican primary

Filed

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

Mountain primary

Filed

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

District 9

Republican primary

Filed

• Rollan Roberts, incumbent senator ^[3]
• Michael Antolini, businessman and physician ^[3]

District 10

Republican primary

Filed

• Vince Deeds, incumbent senator name="Candidates"/>
• Robert Shirley Love ^[3]

District 11

Republican primary

Filed

• Bill Hamilton, incumbent senator ^[3]
• Robert L. Karnes, former senator from this district (2014–2018, 2020–2024) ^[3]
• Jacky Lee Reger, former Buckhannon city councilor ^[10]

District 12

Republican primary

Filed

• Ben Queen, incumbent senator ^[3]

District 13

Republican primary

Potential

• Mike Oliverio, incumbent senator

District 14

Republican primary

Filed

• Jay Taylor, incumbent senator ^[3]
• Marc Lee Harman, former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from Grant County (1981–1989) ^{[11] [3]}

Filed

• Jason Armentrout, independent candidate for the 15th district in 2018 ^[3]

District 15

Republican primary

Filed

• Ken Reed, former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 59th district (2020–2022) ^[3]

Potential

• Darren Thorne, incumbent senator

District 16

Republican primary

Filed

• Jason Barrett, incumbent senator ^[3]

District 17 (regular)

Republican primary

Filed

• Tom Takubo, incumbent senator ^[3]

Disqualified

• Doug Skaff, former Democratic minority leader (2020–2023) of the West Virginia House of Delegates (2008–2014, 2018–2023) (deceased) ^{[12] [3]}

District 17 (special)

Republican primary

Filed

• Anne Charnock, incumbent senator ^[3]

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. "Candidates & Committees". West Virginia Secretary of State. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
4. "WV 2022 State Senate". Dave's Redistricting . Retrieved 14 October 2025.
5. "West Virginia Code 3-10-5". West Virginia Code. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
6. Jenkins, Jeff (October 30, 2025). "Maynard named to open seat in state senate". West Virginia MetroNews . Retrieved November 1, 2025.
7. "Governor Patrick Morrisey Appoints Anne Charnock to Fill Vacancy in 17th Senate District". Governor.WV.Gov. February 4, 2025. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
8. Beard, David (7 November 2025). "State District 2 Sen. Charles Clements will not seek reelection". The Dominion Post (Morgantown) . Retrieved 13 November 2025.
9. Patterson, Jessica (9 October 2025). "Stuart resigns from West Virginia Senate for new federal role". WOWK-TV . Retrieved 11 October 2025.
10. "Jack Reger announces candidacy for West Virginia State Senate". Record Delta . 21 October 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
11. West Virginia Blue Book, 2018 (PDF). 2018. p. 470. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
12. 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.

External websites

Official campaign websites for 1st district candidates

• Laura Chapman for Senate (R)
• Joe Eddy for Senate (R)

Official campaign websites for 2nd district candidates

• Toby Heaney for Senate (R)
• Chris Claypole for Senate (D)

Official campaign websites for 4th district candidates

• Travis Willard for Senate (R)

Official campaign websites for 8th district candidates

• Steven Eshenaur for Senate (R)

Official campaign websites for 9th district candidates

• Michael Antolini for Senate (R)

Official campaign websites for 10th district candidates

• Vince Deeds for Senate (R)
• Robert Shirley Love for Senate (R)

Official campaign websites for 16th district candidates

• Jason Barrett for Senate (R)