WEST VIRGINIA 5 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, West Virginia Secretary of State)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2016 est.
1,831,102
Total Registration, Nov. 2016
1,274,887 >

Dem. 572,467 (44.90%)   Rep. 396,600 (31.11%)   Mtn 1,875 (0.15%)   Lib. 4,679 (0.37%)   No Party 266,093 (20.87%)   Other 33,173 (2.60%)
West Virginia has: 55 counties.

Largest counties: Kanawha, Berkeley, Monongalia, Cabell, Wood, Raleigh.

Government
Governor: Earl Ray Tomblin (D) term-limited in 2016.
State Legislature: West Virginia Legislature  House: 100 seats  Senate: 34 seats
Local: Counties   NACO
U.S. House: 3R,0D- 1. D.McKinley (R) | 2. A.Mooney (R) | 3. E.Jenkins (R). >
U.S. Senate: Shelley Moore Capito (R) elected in 2014, Joe Manchin (D) re-elected in 2012.
2016

Governor: Running to succeed Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D), billionaire businessman Jim Justice (D) defeated State Sen. President Bill Cole (R), by 350,408 votes (49.09%) to 301,987 (42.30%) and 42,068 (5.89%) for Charlotte Pritt (MP), who was the 1996 Democratic nominee for Governor, 15,354 (2.15%) for David Moran (L), and 4,041 (0.57%) for Phil Hudok (C).
U.S. House: All three Members were re-elected by comfortable margins.
State Legislature:
18 of 34 Senate seats and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates were up.  In the Senate Republicans expanded their majority from 18R, 16D to 22R, 12D.  The balance in the House of Delegates went from 64R, 36D to 63R, 37D.
Ballot Measures: None.

 State of West Virginia
Secretary of State

Libertarian Party of WV
Constitution Party of WV
WV Democratic Party
WV Mountain Party (Green aff.)
WV Republican State Comm.

Charleston Gazette-Mail, p
Newspapers
TV, Radio

Politics1-WV
Ballotpedia-WV


The Mountain State
General Election -- Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Voting Eligible Population*: 1,430,308.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 49.9%.



Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 18, 2016.
Early Voting: Oct. 26-Nov. 5, 2016.
In county courthouses; begins thirteen days before the election and continues until three days before the election.

Official Results >

 
Trump/Pence (Rep.)
489,371
(68.63)
Clinton/Kaine (Dem.)
188,794
(26.48)
Johnson/Weld (Lib.)
23,004
(3.23)
Stein/Baraka (Mtn.)
8,075
(1.13)
Castle/Bradley (Const.)
3,807
(0.53)
Total........713,051

Overview: Hillary Clinton obtained just 35.84% of the vote in West Virginia's May 10 presidential primary, and she fared even worse in the general election, garnering just 26.48%.  Meanwhile Donald Trump achieved the best showing ever by a Republican presidential candidate as the Trump-Pence ticket carried all 55 counties, amassing a plurality of 300,577 votes (42.15 percentage points).
   Clinton's remarks in March about putting "coal miners and coal companies out of business," while taken out of context (
+), fit right into the "war on coal" narrative that Republicans have used to such effect in recent years.  The West Virginia Coal Association endorsed Trump over Clinton shortly before the primary.  Democratic nominee for governor Jim Justice stated in an Aug. 22 interview that, “I cannot be a supporter of Hillary Clinton.”  In addition to Clinton's weakness here, Democratic voter registration in West Virginia has declined steadily since 2000.  
   Trump attended a fundraising dinner hosted by Robert Murray, founder and chairman of Murray Energy Corp., at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling on June 28, and Eric Trump and RNC chairman Priebus did a Victory fundraiser at a private home in Charleston on Sept. 14.
   The VEP (voting eligible population) highest office turnout rate, although higher than in 2012, was the lowest of any state except for Hawaii.
BALLOT [PDF]
Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Official Primary Voter Registration Numbers (4/19/16): Dem. 577,977 (46.5%),  Rep. 374,931 (30.2%),  Mtn. 1,646 (0.1%),  Lib. 3,241 (0.3%)  No Party Affil. 254,265 (20.5%), Other 30,525 (2.5%). 
-Secretary of State Tennant reported record high early voting in the primary (+).
Democrats
 37 Delegates: 20 District, 6 At-Large, 3 PLEO and 8 Unpledged.

details
Republicans
34 Delegates: 3 RNC; 22 at-large; 9 by CD (3 x 3 CDs).

details



General Election Winners in West Virginia, 1992-2012
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
Clinton
48.41%
Clinton
51.51%
Bush
51.92%
Bush
56.07%
McCain
55.72%
Romney
62.30%
  and the details...
 
General Election -- Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voting Eligible Population*: 1,447,153.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 46.3%.


Voter Registration: Dem. 640,532 (51.38%)   Rep. 358,655 (28.77%)   Mtn. 1,358 (0.11%)  No Party 222,016 (17.81%)   Other 23,971 (1.92%)  ...Total: 1,246,559

Voter Registration Deadline: October 16, 2012.
Early Voting: In county courthouses; begins thirteen days before the election and continues until three days before the election.

Early In-Person and Absentee By-Mail Voting: 163,206.

ballot access note
Official Results >

 
+Romney/Ryan (Rep.)
417,655
(62.30)
Obama/Biden (Dem.)
238,269
(35.54)
Johnson/Gray (Lib.)
6,302
(0.94)
Stein/Honkala (Mtn.) 4,406
(0.66)
Terry (N.Aff.)
3,806
(0.57)
Total........670,438

2012 Overview
The Romney/Ryan ticket easily carried West Virginia, gaining a plurality of 179,386 votes (26.76 percentage points).  Coal was a big issue.  There were a handful of visits.  Mitt Romney attended a fundraiser in Wheeling on May 3 and Ann Romney attended a fundraiser in Charleston on July 19.  Green VP nominee Cheri Honkala visited on Oct. 14.  President Obama has never fared well in this state.  In the May 8 Democratic primary he ceded over 40% of the vote to a Texas prison inmate.  In the 2008 general election he lost to John McCain by 55.7% to 42.6%, and in the May 13, 2008 Democratic primary he lost to Hillary Clinton by a margin of 66.9% to 25.8%. 
Obama  |  (Romney)
BALLOT [PDF]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting Eligible Population*: 1,409,823.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 50.6%.

Voter Registration: Dem. 675,305 (55.71%)   Rep. 353,437 (29.16%)   Mtn. 973 (0.08%)  Nonpart. 167,111 (13.79%)   Other 15,291 (1.26%)  ...Total: 1,212,117.

Early voting in person at county clerk's office Oct. 15-Nov. 1, 2008.  "Approximately 154,000 voters took advantage of no-excuse early voting." +



Deadline to register: Oct. 14, 2008.
Official Results >


+McCain/Palin (Rep.)
397,466
55.72
Obama/Biden (Dem.) 303,857 42.60
Nader/Gonzalez (U)
7,219
1.01
Baldwin/Castle (C)
2,465
0.35
McKinney/Clemente (Mtn.)
2,355
0.33
Total........713,362


2008 Overview
Despite the drubbing Obama received in the May 13 primary, his campaign did make an effort here.  However, when the votes were counted the McCain-Palin ticket prevailed by a plurality of 93,609 votes (13.12 percentage points), carrying 48 counties to seven for Obama-Biden. 
General Election Details
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies Nader More
 
General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voting Eligible Population*: 1,396,545.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 54.1%.


Voter Registration:  Dem. 680,464 (58.22%),  Rep. 349,193 (29.88%), Mtn 637 (0.05%), Non-Part. 128,994 (11.04%), Other 9,406 (0.80%)   ...Total: 1,168,694.

Early in-person voting began Oct. 13, 2004.

Deadline to register: Oct. 13, 2004.
Official Results

Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
326,541 (43.21)
Nader/Camejo (Ind). 4,063 (0.54)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 1,405 (0.19)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 423,778 (56.07)
Write Ins (2) 5
Total........755,792  
Write Ins: Lawson Mitchell Bone (0), David Cobb (5) 
2004 Overview
Both campaigns put significant resources into West Virginia.  September saw considerable activity by the candidates, but in October visits dwindled markedly.  Bush carried 46 counties to Kerry's 9 and ended up more than doubling his 2000 plurality to 97,237 votes (12.86 percentage points).  Over 107,000 more people voted in the presidential race in 2004 as compared to 2000; registration in 2004 was a bit over 100,000 more than in 2000. 
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04
Legislation adopted in 2001 provided for early in-person voting.  From 20 days before election to three days before election "any voter may walk into their local county or circuit clerk’s office, depending upon where they live, and vote absentee with 'no excuse.'”

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000
Voting Eligible Population*: 1,390,365.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 46.6%.


Voter Registration:  Dem. 658,945 (61.79%), Rep. 309,528 (29.03%), Lib 964, Indep. and Other 96,912 (9.09%)    Total:
1,066,349.
Official Results

Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
 295,497
(45.59)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
 336,475
(51.92)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
 1,912
(0.30)
Hagelin/Goldhaber(NLP)
 367
(0.06)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
 3,169
(0.49)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
 10,680
(1.65)
Earnest Lee Easton (w/in)
0
 - 
Howard Phillips (w/in)
23
Gloria Dawn Strickland (w)
1
-
Total........648,124

2000 Overview
Bush carried this reliably Democratic state despite a two-to-one registration advantage for Democrats.  The Bush-Cheney ticket won with a plurality of 40,978 votes (6.33 percentage points).  Bush carried 42 counties to Gore's 13.  Concerns among coal miners about Gore's environmental positions, among steel workers about foreign dumping, and among gun owners hurt the Vice President.  In the open second congressional district race, Republican Shelley Moore Capito picked up a seat despite running against the top spending House candidate in the country, Jim Humphries ($6.9 million).
General Election Activity

Notes: West Virginia has three official parties: the Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians.  On April 7, 1999 Gov. Underwood signed SB 591 into law, making ballot access markedly more difficult for minor party and independent candidates by increasing the required number of signatures from one percent of votes cast in the last election to two percent.  6,365 signatures were required before June 11, 1999 and 12, 730 after.  The Natural Law Party successfully petitioned to get on the ballot in 1999.  The Reform Party submitted petitions on August 1, 2000 containing 14,871 valid signatures, 2,141 more than required.  Nader supporters turned in 7,111 valid signatures, short of the number required, but the Nader campaign went to court, and the Green Party made the ballot as a result of a Sept. 15, 2000 decision by Judge Charles H. Haden, II of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia. 

1992 and 1996 General Elections
Archive Pages: 2012 | 2008 | 2004 | 2000 1992
Clinton (Dem.)........331,001 (48.41)
Bush (Rep.)...........241,974  (35.39)
Perot (Ind.).............108,829
 (15.92)
Browne (Lib.).............1,907
(0.28)
Total........683,711

1996
Clinton (Dem.)........327,812 (51.51)
Dole (Rep.)............233,946  (36.76)
Perot (Ref.)..............71,639
 (11.26)
Browne (Lib.).............3,062
(0.48)
Total........636,459