Political party strength in West Virginia

Politics in the US state of West Virginia

The following tables indicate the historic party affiliation of elected officials in the U.S. state of West Virginia, including: Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and State Agriculture Commissioner. The tables also indicate the historical party composition in the State Senate, State House of Delegates, Supreme Court of Appeals, State delegation to the U.S. Senate, and the State delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. For years in which a presidential election was held, the tables indicate which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.

1863–1899

Year	Executive offices					State Legislature		Supreme Court of Appeals	United States Congress			Electoral votes
Year	Governor	Secretary of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	State Senate	State House	Supreme Court of Appeals	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. House	Electoral votes
1863	Arthur I. Boreman (R)	Jacob Edgar Boyers (R)	Aquilla B. Caldwell (R)	Samuel Crane (R)	Campbell Tarr (R)	20UU	52UU	3R	Peter G. Van Winkle (UU)	Waitman T. Willey (UU)	3UU
1864		Jacob Edgar Boyers (R)	Aquilla B. Caldwell (R)	Samuel Crane (R)						Waitman T. Willey (UU)	3UU	Lincoln/ Johnson (NU) Y
1865		Granville D. Hall (R)	Ephraim B. Hall (R)	Joseph Marcellus McWhorter (R)						Waitman T. Willey (R)	2UU, 1R
1866		Granville D. Hall (R)	Edwin Maxwell (R)			19R, 1D	48R, 8D				2UU, 1R
1867		John Witcher (R)	Thayer Melvin (R)		Jacob H. Brister (R)	19R, 43D	41R, 15D		Peter G. Van Winkle (R)		3R
1868		John Witcher (R)	Thayer Melvin (R)		Jacob H. Brister (R)	20R, 2D	42R, 14D		Peter G. Van Winkle (R)		3R	Grant/ Colfax (R) Y
1869	Daniel D. T. Farnsworth (R)	James Pipes (R)	Aquilla B. Caldwell (R)	Thomas Boggess (R)	James A. Macauley (R)	18R, 4D	32R, 24D		Arthur I. Boreman (R)		3R
1870	William E. Stevenson (R)	James Pipes (R)	Aquilla B. Caldwell (R)	Thomas Boggess (R)	James A. Macauley (R)	13LR, 5D, 4R	33R, 23D				3R
1871	John J. Jacob (D)	John M. Phelps (R)	Joseph Sprigg (D)	Edward A. Bennett (D)	John S. Burdett (D)	12D, 10R	40D, 16R	2R, 1D		Henry G. Davis (D)	2D, 1R
1872	John J. Jacob (D)	John M. Phelps (R)	Joseph Sprigg (D)			18D, 4R	39D, 16R, 1?	2R, 1D			2D, 1R	Grant/ Wilson (R) Y
1873	John J. Jacob (I)	Charles Hedrick (D)	Henry M. Mathews (D)			21D, 3R	43D, 19R, 3?	4D			2D, 1R
1874						21D, 3R	43D, 19R, 3?				2D, 1R
1875						19D, 4R, 1I	49D, 12R, 4I		Allen T. Caperton (D)		3D
1876					Sobieski Brady (D)	19D, 4R, 1I	49D, 12R, 4I		Samuel Price (D)		3D	Tilden/ Hendricks (D) N
1877	Henry M. Mathews (D)	Sobieski Brady (D)	Robert White (D)	Joseph S. Miller (D)	Thomas J. West (D)	19D, 5R	46D, 19R		Frank Hereford (D)		3D
1878						19D, 5R	46D, 19R				3D
1879						21D, 2R, 1GB	40D, 17GB, 8R				3D
1880						21D, 2R, 1GB	40D, 17GB, 8R				3D	Hancock/ English (D) N
1881	Jacob B. Jackson (D)	Randolph Stalnaker (D)	Cornelius Clarkson Watts (D)		Thomas O'Brien (D)	20D, 3R, 1GB	46D, 17R, 2GB		Johnson N. Camden (D)		3D
1882						20D, 3R, 1GB	46D, 17R, 2GB				3D
1883						17D, 8R, 1GB	38D, 27R			John E. Kenna (D)	3D, 1R
1884						17D, 8R, 1GB	38D, 27R				3D, 1R	Cleveland/ Hendricks (D) Y
1885	Emanuel Willis Wilson (D)	Henry S. Walker (D)	Alfred Caldwell (D)	Patrick Fee Duffy (D)	William T. Thompson (D)	15D, 11R	37D, 28R				3D, 1R
1886						15D, 11R	37D, 28R				3D, 1R
1887						14D, 12R	36D, 29R		Charles James Faulkner (D)		3D, 1R
1888						14D, 12R	36D, 29R				3D, 1R	Cleveland/ Thurman (D) N
1889						12D, 13R, 1UL	34D, 31R				2D, 2R
1890	Aretas B. Fleming (D)	William A. Ohley (D)				12D, 13R, 1UL	34D, 31R				2D, 2R
1891						16D, 10R	44D, 21R				4D
1892						16D, 10R	44D, 21R				4D	Cleveland/ Stevenson (D) Y
1893	William A. MacCorkle (D)	William E. Chilton (D)	Thomas S. Riley (D)	Isaac V. Johnson (D)	John M. Rowan (D)	21D, 5R	41D, 30R			Johnson N. Camden (D)	4D
1894						21D, 5R	41D, 30R			Johnson N. Camden (D)	4D
1895						14R, 12D	49R, 22D			Stephen B. Elkins (R)	4R
1896						14R, 12D	49R, 22D				4R	McKinley/ Hobart (R) Y
1897	George W. Atkinson (R)	William M. O. Dawson (R)	Edgar P. Rucker (R)	Latelle M. LaFollette Sr. (R)	M. A. Kendall (R)	20R, 5D, 1Pop	40R, 31D	3D, 1R			3R, 1D
1898						20R, 5D, 1Pop	40R, 31D				3R, 1D
1899						17R, 9D	37D, 33R, 1?		Nathan B. Scott (R)		4R

1900–1949

Year	Executive offices					State Legislature		Supreme Court of Appeals	United States Congress			Electoral votes
Year	Governor	Secretary of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	State Senate	State House	Supreme Court of Appeals	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. House	Electoral votes
1900	George W. Atkinson (R)	William M. O. Dawson (R)	Edgar P. Rucker (R)	Latelle M. LaFollette Sr. (R)	M. A. Kendall (R)	17R, 9D	37D, 33R, 1?	3D, 1R	Nathan B. Scott (R)	Stephen B. Elkins (R)	4R	McKinley/ Roosevelt (R) Y
1901	Albert B. White (R)		Romeo H. Freer (R)	Arnold C. Scherr (R)	Peter Silman (R)	18R, 8D	45R, 26D	3R, 1D			4R
1902						18R, 8D	45R, 26D	3R, 1D			4R
1903						24R, 6D	57R, 29D	4R, 1D			4R
1904						24R, 6D	57R, 29D	4R, 1D			4R	Roosevelt/ Fairbanks (R) Y
1905	William M. O. Dawson (R)	Charles Wesley Swisher (R)	Clark W. May (R)		Newton Ogden (R)	25R, 5D	61R, 25D	5R			3R, 1D
1906							61R, 25D				3R, 1D
1907							60R, 25D, 1Proh				5R
1908			William G. Conley (R)				60R, 25D, 1Proh				5R	Taft/ Sherman (R) Y
1909	William E. Glasscock (R)	Stuart F. Reed (R)		John S. Darst (R)	E. Leslie Long (R)	24R, 6D	60R, 26D				5R
1910						24R, 6D	60R, 26D				5R
1911						15R, 15D	63D, 23R		William E. Chilton (D)	Davis Elkins (R)	4D, 1R
1911										Clarence W. Watson (D)
1912										Clarence W. Watson (D)		Wilson/ Marshall (D) Y
1913	Henry D. Hatfield (R)		Armistead Abraham Lilly (R)				53R, 33D			Nathan Goff Jr. (R)	4R, 2D
1914							53R, 33D				4R, 2D
1915						21R, 9D	56R, 27D, 3Fus				4D, 2R
1916						21R, 9D	56R, 27D, 3Fus				4D, 2R	Hughes/ Fairbanks (R) N
1917	John J. Cornwell (D)	Houston G. Young (R)	Edward T. England (R)		W. S. Johnson (R)	20R, 10D	52D, 42R		Howard Sutherland (R)		5R, 1D
1918						20R, 10D	52D, 42R				5R, 1D
1919						23R, 7D	70R, 24D			Davis Elkins (R)	5R, 1D
1920						23R, 7D	70R, 24D				5R, 1D	Harding/ Coolidge (R) Y
1921	Ephraim F. Morgan (R)			John C. Bond (R)		26R, 4D	73R, 21D				6R
1922						26R, 4D	73R, 21D				6R
1923						19R, 11D	65D, 29R	4R, 1D	Matthew M. Neely (D)		4D, 2R
1924						19R, 11D	65D, 29R	4R, 1D			4D, 2R	Coolidge/ Dawes (R) Y
1925	Howard Mason Gore (R)	George W. Sharp (R)	Howard B. Lee (R)			16R, 14D	55R, 39D	5R		Guy D. Goff (R)	6R
1926						16R, 14D	55R, 39D				6R
1927				Sam T. Mallison		21R, 9D	60R, 33D, 1SqDl				5R, 1D
1928				Sam T. Mallison		21R, 9D	60R, 33D, 1SqDl				5R, 1D	Hoover/ Curtis (R) Y
1929	William G. Conley (R)			Edgar C. Lawson (R)		24R, 6D	63R, 31D		Henry D. Hatfield (R)		5R, 1D
1930						24R, 6D	63R, 31D				5R, 1D
1931						17R, 13D	68D, 26R			Matthew M. Neely (D)	4R, 2D
1932						17R, 13D	68D, 26R				4R, 2D	Roosevelt/ Garner (D) Y
1933	Herman G. Kump (D)	William Smith O'Brien (D)	Homer A. Holt (D)	Edgar B. Simms (D)	Richard E. Talbott (D)	24D, 6R	79D, 15R	4R, 1D			6D
1934							79D, 15R				6D
1935							82D, 12R		Rush Holt Sr. (D)		6D
1936							82D, 12R				6D	Roosevelt/ Garner (D) Y
1937	Homer A. Holt (D)		Clarence W. Meadows (D)				72D, 22R	3D, 2R			6D
1938							72D, 22R				6D
1939						27D, 5R	70D, 24R				5D, 1R
1940						27D, 5R	70D, 24R				5D, 1R	Roosevelt/ Wallace (D) Y
1941	Matthew M. Neely (D)					26D, 6R	74D, 20R	5D	Harley M. Kilgore (D)	Joseph Rosier (D)	6D
1942			William S. Wysong (D)			26D, 6R	74D, 20R			Hugh Ike Shott (R)	6D
1943			James Kay Thomas (D)			21D, 11R	50D, 44R			Chapman Revercomb (R)	4D, 2R
1944			James Kay Thomas (D)				50D, 44R				4D, 2R	Roosevelt/ Truman (D) Y
1945	Clarence W. Meadows (D)		Ira J. Partlow (D)				65D, 29R				5D, 1R
1946							65D, 29R				5D, 1R
1947						20D, 12R	56D, 38R				4R, 2D
1948		Daniel Pitt O'Brien (D)					56D, 38R				4R, 2D	Truman/ Barkley (D) Y
1949	Okey Patteson (D)	Daniel Pitt O'Brien (D)	William C. Marland (D)				78D, 16R			Matthew M. Neely (D)	6D	Truman/ Barkley (D) Y

1950–1999

Year	Executive offices						State Legislature		Supreme Court of Appeals	United States Congress			Electoral votes
Year	Governor	Secretary of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	Agriculture Commissioner	State Senate	State House	Supreme Court of Appeals	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. House	Electoral votes
1950	Okey Patteson (D)	Daniel Pitt O'Brien (D)	William C. Marland (D)	Edgar B. Simms (D)	William H. Ansel Jr. (D)	J. B. McLaughlin (D)	20D, 12R	78D, 16R	5D	Harley M. Kilgore (D)	Matthew M. Neely (D)	6D	Truman/ Barkley (D) Y
1951			William C. Marland (D)					67D, 27R					Truman/ Barkley (D) Y
1952			Chauncey Browning Sr. (D)					67D, 27R					Stevenson/ Sparkman (D) N
1953	William C. Marland (D)		John G. Fox (D)				22D, 10R	67D, 33R				5D, 1R
1954							22D, 10R	67D, 33R
1955							23D, 9R	76D, 24R
1956						John T. Johnson (R)	23D, 9R	76D, 24R		William Laird III (D)			Eisenhower/ Nixon (R) Y
1957	Cecil H. Underwood (R)	Helen F. Holt (R)	Wally Barron (D)		Orel J. Skeen (D)		21D, 11R	58D, 42R		Chapman Revercomb (R)
1958		Joe F. Burdett (D)									John D. Hoblitzell Jr. (R)
1958									4D, 1R		John D. Hoblitzell Jr. (R)
1959							23D, 9R	85D, 15R	5D	Robert Byrd (D)	Jennings Randolph (D)
1960				Litz McGuire (R)			23D, 9R	85D, 15R					Kennedy/ Johnson (D) Y
1961	Wally Barron (D)		C. Donald Robertson (D)	Denzil L. Gainer (D)	John H. Kelly (D)		25D, 7R	82D, 18R
1962							25D, 7R	82D, 18R
1963							23D, 9R	76D, 24R				4D, 1R
1964							23D, 9R	76D, 24R					Johnson/ Humphrey (D) Y
1965	Hulett C. Smith (D)	Robert D. Bailey Jr. (D)				Gus Douglass (D)	27D, 7R	91D, 9R
1966							27D, 7R	91D, 9R
1967							25D, 9R	65D, 35R
1968							25D, 9R	65D, 35R					Humphrey/ Muskie (D) N
1969	Arch A. Moore Jr. (R)	Jay Rockefeller (D)	Chauncey H. Browning Jr. (D)				22D, 12R	63D, 37R
1970							22D, 12R	63D, 37R
1971							23D, 11R	68D, 32R				5D
1971									4D, 1R
1972		Hike Heiskell (R)		John M. Gates (R)					4D, 1R				Nixon/ Agnew (R) Y
1972									3R, 2D
1973							24D, 10R	57D, 43R	4D, 1R			4D
1974							24D, 10R	57D, 43R
1975		James R. McCartney (R)			Ronald G. Pearson (R)		26D, 8R	87D, 13R
1975									3D, 2R
1976									3D, 2R				Carter/ Mondale (D) Y
1977	Jay Rockefeller (D)	A. James Manchin (D)		Glen Gainer Jr. (D)	Larrie Bailey (D)		28D, 6R	91D, 9R	5D
1978							28D, 6R	91D, 9R
1979							26D, 8R	74D, 26R
1980							26D, 8R	74D, 26R					Carter/ Mondale (D) N
1981							27D, 7R	78D, 22R				2R, 2D
1982							27D, 7R	78D, 22R				2R, 2D
1983							31D, 3R	87D, 13R				4D
1984							31D, 3R	87D, 13R					Reagan/ Bush (R) Y
1985	Arch A. Moore Jr. (R)	Ken Hechler (D)	Charlie Brown (D)		A. James Manchin (D)		30D, 4R	73D, 27R			Jay Rockefeller (D)
1986							30D, 4R	73D, 27R
1987							28D, 6R	78D, 22R
1988							28D, 6R	78D, 22R					Dukakis/ Bentsen (D) N
1989	Gaston Caperton (D)		Roger W. Tompkins (D)		Thomas E. Loehr (D)	Cleve Benedict (R)	29D, 5R	79D, 21R
1990			Mario Palumbo (D)		Thomas E. Loehr (D)		29D, 5R	79D, 21R
1991					Larrie Bailey (D)		33D, 1R	74D, 26R
1992							33D, 1R	74D, 26R					Clinton/ Gore (D) Y
1993			Darrell McGraw (D)	Glen Gainer III (D)		Gus Douglass (D)	32D, 2R	79D, 21R				3D
1994							32D, 2R	79D, 21R
1995							26D, 8R	69D, 31R
1996							26D, 8R	69D, 31R					Clinton/ Gore (D) Y
1997	Cecil H. Underwood (R)				John Perdue (D)		25D, 9R	74D, 26R
1998							25D, 9R	74D, 26R	4D, 1R
1999							29D, 5R	75D, 25R	5D

2000–present

Year	Executive offices						State Legislature		Supreme Court of Appeals	United States Congress			Electoral votes
Year	Governor	Secretary of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	Ag. Commissioner	State Senate	State House	Supreme Court of Appeals	U.S. Senator (Class I)	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. House	Electoral votes
2000	Cecil H. Underwood (R)	Ken Hechler (D)	Darrell McGraw (D)	Glen Gainer III (D)	John Perdue (D)	Gus Douglass (D)	29D, 5R	75D, 25R	4D, 1R	Robert Byrd (D)	Jay Rockefeller (D)	3D	Bush/ Cheney (R) Y
2001	Bob Wise (D)	Joe Manchin (D)					28D, 6R		5D			2D, 1R
2002							28D, 6R
2003							24D, 10R	68D, 32R
2004							24D, 10R						Bush/ Cheney (R) Y
2005	Joe Manchin (D)	Betty Ireland (R)					21D, 13R		4D, 1R
2006							21D, 13R
2007							23D, 11R	72D, 28R
2008							23D, 11R	72D, 28R					McCain/ Palin (R) N
2009		Natalie Tennant (D)					26D, 8R	71D, 29R
2010							26D, 8R	71D, 29R		Carte Goodwin (D)
2011	Earl Ray Tomblin (D)						28D, 6R	65D, 35R		Joe Manchin (D)		2R, 1D
2012							28D, 6R	65D, 35R					Romney/ Ryan (R) N
2013			Patrick Morrisey (R)			Walt Helmick (D)	25D, 9R	54D, 46R	3D, 2R
2014							24D, 10R	53D, 47R
2015							18R, 16D	64R, 36D			Shelley Moore Capito (R)	3R
2016				Lisa Hopkins (D)			18R, 16D	64R, 36D					Trump/ Pence (R) Y
2017	Jim Justice (D)	Mac Warner (R)		JB McCuskey (R)		Kent Leonhardt (R)	22R, 12D	64R, 36D
2017	Jim Justice (R)
2018
2018									4R, 1D
2019							20R, 14D	57R, 43D	3R, 2D
2020							20R, 14D	57R, 43D					Trump/ Pence (R) N
2021					Riley Moore (R)		23R, 11D	76R, 24D
								77R, 23D
								78R, 22D
2022								78R, 22D
2023							31R, 3D	89R, 11D				2R
2024													Trump/ Vance (R) Y
2024										Joe Manchin (I)
2025	Patrick Morrisey (R)	Kris Warner (R)	JB McCuskey (R)	Mark Hunt (R)	Larry Pack (R)		32R, 2D	91R, 9D	4R, 1D	Jim Justice (R)

Key to party colors and abbreviations for members of the U.S. Congress and other politicians or officials

Alaskan Independence (AKIP)

Know Nothing (KN)

American Labor (AL)

Anti-Jacksonian (Anti-J)
National Republican (NR)

Anti-Administration (AA)

Anti-Masonic (Anti-M)

Conservative (Con)

Covenant (Cov)

Democratic (D)

Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL)

Democratic–NPL (D-NPL)

Dixiecrat (Dix),
States' Rights (SR)

Democratic-Republican (DR)

Farmer–Labor (FL)

Federalist (F)
Pro-Administration (PA)

Independent Democrat (ID)

Independent Republican (IR)

Nonpartisan League (NPL)

Nullifier (N)

Opposition Northern (O)
Opposition Southern (O)

Silver Republican (SvR)

Socialist (Soc)

Union (U)

Unconditional Union (UU)

Vermont Progressive (VP)

Whig (W)

Independent (I)

Nonpartisan (NP)

Resigned to run for the United States Senate, winning election.
As president of the state Senate, filled unexpired term for 7 days.
Appointed.
Did not run for re-election in 1888, but due to the election's being disputed, remained in office until the investigation was complete.
The Union Labor candidate supported a Democratic Senate Presidency.
^ Elected to fill unexpired term.
During the 1911-12 sessions, Republicans held the Senate Presidency under Henry D. Hatfield while each party controlled half the committees; During the 1913-14 sessions, Democrats held the Senate Presidency under Samuel V. Woods, while Republicans were able to select their choice of Sergeant-at-Arms and Clerk and control of all committees.
Appointed in 1932.
^ Appointed by governor; not an elected position until 1964.
^ One of the members of the legislature was elected as a Democrat, but switched parties to Republican.
Governor Justice announced on August 3, 2017, that he was switching his party registration from Democratic to Republican.
Senator Manchin announced on May 31, 2024, that he was switching his party registration from Democratic to independent.

References

"West Virginia State Auditors". WVCulture.org. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
"West Virginia State Treasurers". WVCulture.org. Archived from the original on 2011-11-16. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
Educational Publications Manual, State of West Virginia Legislature
"Van Winkle - Biographical Information". Bioguide.Congress.gov. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
Kabler, Phil. "WV has a brief, colorful history of deadlocked Senates". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
Kabler, Phil (August 3, 2017). "WV Gov. Justice switching political parties, returning to GOP". Charleston Gazette. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
Irwin, Lauren (May 31, 2024). "Manchin leaves Democratic Party, files as independent". The Hill. Retrieved May 31, 2024.

v t e Political party strength in U.S. states
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Federal district	Washington, D.C.
Territories	American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands
List of third-party and independent performances in United States elections

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