West Virginia Republican Party | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Matthew Herridge |
Governor | Jim Justice |
Senate President | Craig Blair |
Speaker | Roger Hanshaw |
Headquarters | PO Box 2711 Charleston, WV 25330 |
Membership (2023) | 456,885 [1] |
Ideology | Conservatism |
National affiliation | Republican Party |
Colors | Red |
Seats in the U.S. Senate | 1 / 2 |
Seats in the U.S. House | 2 / 2 |
Statewide executive offices | 6 / 6 |
Seats in the West Virginia Senate | 31 / 34 |
Seats in the West Virginia House of Delegates | 89 / 100 |
Website | |
www | |
The West Virginia Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in West Virginia. Matthew Herridge is the party chair. [2] It is currently the dominant party in the state, and is one of the strongest affiliates of the national Republican Party. It controls both of West Virginia's U.S. House seats, one of the U.S. Senate seats, the governorship, and has supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.
John Curtiss Underwood formed the party's newspaper in Wheeling, the first in any of the border states [3] using financial aid from William H. Seward. Underwood also received financial backing to form a colony for northern workers in Ceredo. [4]
Republicans, such as Cassius Marcellus Clay and Underwood, viewed John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry as damaging to the party. [5] Almost all of Abraham Lincoln's support in the 1860 election came from around Wheeling. [6]
West Virginia sent delegates to the 1866 National Union Convention where Governor Arthur I. Boreman argued against supporting black suffrage as "we did not come here to commit suicide" and that passing the resolution would have them "damned to all eternity". [7]
The Civil War helped the Republican Party gain recognition in the state. The Civil War in West Virginia often split families apart. The Boggs family lived in Pendleton County and one son was the head of the Confederate County Court while another son was the head of the Union Home guards in the north. Today, the northern party of Pendleton County is still strongly Republican. Republicans in Hampshire and Hardy counties left after the war to form Mineral and Grant counties, which are still primarily Republican. Republicans held the control in the state until the 1870s and the Confederates began voting and holding offices. In the 1870s, the party was so weak that it endorsed a Democratic governor.
Major Nathan Goff Jr. a veteran of the Civil War restructured the party. He was able to get the party to raise money and voters and recruit leaders. He led the party until the 1880s. He ran for governor in 1888 and was defeated by Aretas B. Fleming despite having more votes. [8] The Republicans were the dominant party until the Great Depression. From the Great Depression until 2014, Democrats controlled the state.
Arch Moore Jr. was elected the Republican governor in the 1960s. In 1985, Moore helped raise money and supervised recovery efforts for the flood of 1985. The state voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004. Betty Ireland was also elected as Secretary of State in 2004.
In the 2014 elections, the West Virginia Republican Party made major gains in West Virginia, capturing one of its two Senate seats, all of its congressional House seats for the first time since 1921, and gained control of both the West Virginia House of Delegates and the West Virginia Senate for the first time in 80 years. [9] In the 2016 elections, the Republicans held on to their seats and made gains in the State Senate and gained three statewide offices. [10] [11]
In March 2019, the West Virginia GOP was embroiled in national controversy when a poster linking Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Muslim member of Congress, to the 9/11 attacks was displayed at the state capitol. [12]
The West Virginia Republican Party hold both of the state's two U.S. House seats. Incumbent governor Jim Justice who was elected as a Democrat in 2016, switched to the Republican Party in August 2017. [13]
As of January 3, 2023:
District | Member | Photo |
---|---|---|
1st | Carol Miller | |
2nd | Alex Mooney |
Election | Gubernatorial candidate | Votes | Vote % | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | Cecil Underwood | 324,518 | 51.6% | Won |
2000 | Cecil Underwood | 305,926 | 47.2% | Lost |
2004 | Monty Warner | 253,131 | 34.0% | Lost |
2008 | Russ Weeks | 181,612 | 25.7% | Lost |
2011 | Bill Maloney | 141,656 | 47.05% | Lost |
2012 | Bill Maloney | 303,291 | 45.65% | Lost |
2016 | Bill Cole | 301,987 | 42.30% | Lost |
2020 | Jim Justice | 497,944 | 63.49% | Won |
2024 | Patrick Morrisey | 454,021 | 62.10% | Won |
House of Delegates | Governor | Senate | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Seats | Change | Change | Seats | Year | |
2000 | 25 / 100 | Bob Wise (D) | 1 | 6 / 34 | 2000 | |
2002 | 32 / 100 | 7 | 4 | 10 / 34 | 2002 | |
2004 | 32 / 100 | Joe Manchin (D) | 3 | 13 / 34 | 2004 | |
2006 | 28 / 100 | 4 | 2 | 11 / 34 | 2006 | |
2008 | 29 / 100 | 1 | 3 | 8 / 34 | 2008 | |
2010 | 35 / 100 | 6 | 2 | 6 / 34 | 2010 | |
2012 | 46 / 100 | 11 | Earl Ray Tomblin (D) | 3 | 9 / 34 | 2012 |
2014 | 64 / 100 | 18 | 9 | 18 / 34 | 2014 | |
2016 | 63 / 100 | 1 | Jim Justice (D) | 4 | 22 / 34 | 2016 |
2018 | 57 / 100 | 7 | Jim Justice (R) | 2 | 20 / 34 | 2018 |
2020 | 76 / 100 | 18 | 3 | 23 / 34 | 2020 | |
2022 | 88 / 100 | 12 | 7 | 30 / 34 | 2022 | |
2024 | 91 / 100 | 3 | Patrick Morrisey (R) | 1 | 31 / 34 | 2024 |
The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virginia. Prior to the American War of Independence, the upper house of the General Assembly was represented by the Virginia Governor's Council, consisting of up to 12 executive counselors appointed by the colonial royal governor as advisers and jurists.
The 2006 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democrat Robert Byrd won re-election to a ninth term. He was sworn in on January 3, 2007. However, he died in office on June 28, 2010, before the end of his term.
The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) is the Virginia chapter of the Republican Party. It is based at the Richard D. Obenshain Center in Richmond. As of May 2024, it controls all three statewide elected offices and 5 out of 11 U.S. House seats.
The Georgia Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Georgia and one of the two major political parties. It is currently the dominant party in the state and is chaired by Joshua McKoon.
From the time of the Great Depression through the 1990s, the politics of West Virginia were largely dominated by the Democratic Party. In the 2000 presidential election, George W. Bush claimed a surprise victory over Al Gore, with 52% of the vote; he won West Virginia again in 2004, with 56% of the vote. West Virginia is now a heavily Republican state, with John McCain winning the state in 2008, Mitt Romney in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016, and 2024.
The Illinois Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Illinois founded on May 29, 1856. It is run by the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, which consists of 17 members, one representing each of the state's congressional districts. Once the dominant party in Illinois, the state GOP has become a minority party within the last few decades, holding little power in the state. The current chairman is Kathy Salvi, who has served since 2024.
The Alabama Republican Party is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in Alabama. It is the dominant political party in Alabama. The state party is governed by the Alabama Republican Executive Committee. The committee usually meets twice a year. As of the February 23, 2019 meeting in Birmingham, the committee is composed of 463 members. Most of the committee's members are elected in district elections across Alabama. The district members are elected in the Republican Primary once every four years, with the most recent election for the committee having been on June 5, 2018. The new committee takes office following the general election in November 2018. In addition, all 67 county GOP chairmen have automatic seats as voting members. The state chairman can appoint 10 members. Each county committee can appoint bonus members based on a formula that theoretically could add 312 seats, although that formula currently calls for only about 50 seats.
The Republican Party of Kentucky is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Kentucky and follows its nationally established platform. The party's headquarters is in Frankfort, Kentucky.
The politics of Virginia have followed major historical events and demographic changes in the commonwealth. In the 21st century, the northern region has become more liberal in attitudes and voting, constituting a reliable voting bloc for Democrats and joining with population centers in the Richmond Metropolitan and Hampton Roads areas to dominate the state. Political orientation varies by region, with the larger cities and suburban areas generally voting Democratic and the rural areas voting Republican. The southern, rural regions have remained Republican. Until 2021 when the GOP swept all statewide offices, Virginia was shifting more Democratic and now is considered a swing state again by most pundits.
The 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's first term. Republicans ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of Representatives and gained seats in the Senate despite Democrats holding Senate control.
Illinois is a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections and one of the "Big Three" Democratic strongholds alongside California and New York. It is one of the most Democratic states in the nation with all state executive offices and both state legislative branches held by Democrats. For most of its history, Illinois was widely considered to be a swing state, voting for the winner of all but two presidential elections in the 20th century. Political party strength in Illinois is highly dependent upon Cook County, and the state's reputation as a blue state rests upon the fact that over 40% of its population and political power is concentrated in Chicago, Cook County, and the Chicago metropolitan area. Outside of Chicago, the suburban collar counties continue trending Democratic while downstate Illinois can be considered more conservative with several Democratic leaning regions including Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Rockford, Peoria, the Quad Cities, and suburban St. Louis.
West Virginia's 2012 general elections were held on November 6, 2012. Primary elections were held on May 8, 2012.
The 2000 United States elections were held on November 7, 2000. Republican governor George W. Bush of Texas defeated Democratic Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee in the presidential election. Republicans retained control of both houses of Congress, giving the party unified control of Congress and the presidency for the first time since the 1954 elections.
The 2012 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 6, 2012, to elect one of West Virginia's two members of the U.S. Senate for a six-year term. In a rematch of the 2010 special election, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin won re-election to a first full term against the Republican nominee, John Raese. Notably, Manchin outperformed Barack Obama in the concurrent presidential election by 25.06 percentage points in vote share, and by 50.86 percentage points on margin.
The 2014 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's second term. A typical six-year itch midterm election suffered by most second-term presidents, this election saw the Republican Party retaining control of the House of Representatives and winning control of the Senate, while furthering their gains in the governorships and state legislatures. Because of these Republican gains, the election was commonly cited as a "red wave" election.
Virginia's 1999 state elections were held on November 2, 1999. Voters elected all 100 members of the Virginia House of Delegates to two-year terms ending in 2002, and all 40 members of the Virginia Senate to four-year terms ending in 2004. There were also elections for local offices in most counties. The elections resulted in the loss of Democratic control of the House of Delegates for the first time in 116 years, and continued the two-year control of the Senate by Republicans.
The 2016 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the governor of West Virginia, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on May 10.
The 2024 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of West Virginia. Democratic Wheeling mayor Glenn Elliott and Republican Governor Jim Justice were seeking their first term in office. Justice will succeed independent incumbent Joe Manchin, who did not seek a third full term.
West Virginia held elections on November 8, 2016. Elections for the United States House, as well as for several statewide offices including the governorship were held. These elections were held concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election and other elections nationwide. Primary elections were held on May 10, 2016.
Elections to state legislatures were held in 46 U.S. states in 2014 with a total of 6,049 seats up for election. Six territorial chambers were up in four territories and the District of Columbia.