West Virginia Democratic Party

Last updated
West Virginia Democratic Party
Chairman Mike Pushkin
Headquarters Charleston, West Virginia
Membership (2024)355,630
Ideology Modern liberalism
National affiliation Democratic Party
ColorsBlue
U.S. Senate
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U.S. House
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Executive offices
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Senate
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House of Delegates
9 / 100
Election symbol
Democratic Disc.svg
Website
wvdemocrats.com

The West Virginia Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of West Virginia.

Contents

Although West Virginia was historically one of the most Democratic-voting states in the nation, the party has rapidly lost ground in the state in the 21st century. The party currently has very weak electoral power in the state, and is one of the weakest affiliates of the national Democratic Party. It controls no statewide or federal elected offices and holds very few seats in both houses of the state legislature.

Bill Clinton remains the last Democratic Presidential Candidate to win the state, having done so in 1992 and 1996.

History

The state of West Virginia granted itself statehood after its people, through a state constitutional convention, became a free state and broke away from the slave holding state of Virginia in 1861 during the first year of the Civil War. Article IV of the U.S. Constitution requires consent of the newly formed state, the original state, and Congress. The pro-Union Restored Government of Virginia had been recognized by Washington as the legitimate government of the entire Commonwealth, and quickly asserted its right to consent to the formation of the new state. After Congressional consent, self-statehood was gained and political party formation prospered. [1]

The West Virginia Democratic Party was started as a coalition of conservative Pro-Union Democrats, Pro-Confederate Democrats, and former members of the Whig Party. After 1872, its political dominance flourished when restrictions that disenfranchised former Confederates were struck from the state constitution. [2]

Presidential Elections

ElectionDemocratic TicketTotal VoteVoteshareResult
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt/John Nance Garner 405,12454.47%Won
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt/John Nance Garner 502,58260.56%Won
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt/Henry A. Wallace 495,66257.10%Won
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt/Harry S. Truman 392,77754.89%Won
1948 Harry S. Truman/Alben W. Barkley 429,18857.32%Won
1952 Adlai Stevenson II/John Sparkman 453,57851.92%Won
1956 Adlai Stevenson II/Estes Kefauver 381,53445.92%Lost
1960 John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson 441,78652.73%Won
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson/Hubert Humphrey 538,08767.94%Won
1968 Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie 374,09149.60%Won
1972 George McGovern/Sargent Shriver 277,43536.39%Lost
1976 Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale 435,91458.07%Won
1980 Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale 367,46249.81%Won
1984 Walter Mondale/Geraldine Ferraro 328,12544.60%Lost
1988 Michael Dukakis/Lloyd Bentsen 341,01652.20%Won
1992 Bill Clinton/Al Gore 331,00148.41%Won
1996 Bill Clinton/Al Gore 327,81251.51%Won
2000 Al Gore/Joe Lieberman 295,49745.59%Lost
2004 John Kerry/John Edwards 326,54143.20%Lost
2008 Barack Obama/Joe Biden 303,85742.49%Lost
2012 Barack Obama/Joe Biden 238,26935.45%Lost
2016 Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine 188,79426.18%Lost
2020 Joe Biden/Kamala Harris 235,98429.69%Lost
2024 Kamala Harris/Tim Walz 214,30928.06%Lost

West Virginia Democrats in government

The West Virginia Democratic Party holds minorities in both state legislative chambers. [3] [4] Democrats hold none of the state's U.S. House seats. Incumbent governor Jim Justice was elected as a Democrat in 2016, but switched parties to Republican in August 2017. [5] Senator Joe Manchin was West Virginia's only congressional Democrat from 2015 to 2024, and the state's only Democratic statewide officeholder from 2021 to 2024, before changing his party affiliation to independent.

Judicial (West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals)

Mayors

Democratic electorate

Democratic and Republican parties have dominated the American political scene for close to two centuries. In West Virginia, the Republican Union-supporting party held political power in the state from 1863 to 1872. The Democrats took power in the 1872 elections and held it until 1896. Republicans once again had control in 1896 until 1932. During the Great Depression, The Democratic Party began its dominance that lasted until 2014.

Democratic dominance in West Virginia in the 20th century

From 1930 to 2014, Democrats held majorities in both chambers of the West Virginia Legislature. [6]

Today's party organization

The party organization is governed by the West Virginia State Democratic Executive Committee. This committee comprises its leadership. The chair is Delegate Mike Pushkin [7] and the vice chairwoman is Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva. [8]

Notes

  1. ↑ west Virginia Statehood http://www.wvculture.org/history/statehoo.html Archived 2007-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Robert Rupp (November 22, 2016). "Democratic Party". The West Virginia Encyclopedia.
  3. ↑ "house roster". www.wvlegislature.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  4. ↑ "senate roster". www.wvlegislature.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  5. ↑ Broadcasting, West Virginia Public (2017-08-03). "Justice, a Democrat, to Switch Parties". West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  6. ↑ Brisbin, Richard. West Virginia Politics and Government. University of Nebraska Press, 1996. p. 35 para 1.
  7. ↑ ADAMS, STEVEN. "Pushkin, Walker elected to lead West Virginia Democratic Party". The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  8. ↑ King, Joselyn. "West Virginia Democrats Elect Toriseva Vice Chair". The Intelligencer. Wheeling News Register. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
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