Though Republicans will keep control of the West Virginia Legislature following Election Day, Democrats were on track early Wednesday to more than double their numbers in the House of Delegates and state Senate. That increase in numbers will give Democrats power to keep Republicans in check.
After midnight, the Associated Press called 16 of the Legislature’s 134 seats for Democrats. Twenty-one House Democrats led their races, according to West Virginia Secretary of State unofficial results Wednesday morning.
“Now with more of us in there, they’re going to have to work with us a little bit more, and they should, because for far too long they’ve been doing what they want instead of what the people need,” said Del. Mike Pushkin, D- Kanawha, West Virginia Democratic Party chair. “They’ve been operating under this veil of invincibility for far too long.
We’re coming back, and we’re going to pick up more seats next time.”
With 10% of present members in the Legislature, Democrats can call for roll call votes on certain votes, such as amendments, making lawmakers go on the record. So with an anticipated 21 members in the House of Delegates, up from nine, and four in the state Senate, up from two, they can increase transparency.
Additionally, the West Virginia Constitution says that bills can only become law if they are read aloud on three days in each house so they can be amended and then voted on. But if four-fifths of lawmakers decide to dispense with those rules, they can push a bill through with little discussion or public scrutiny.
With at least 20 members in the House of Delegates and four in the state Senate, Democrats can potentially prevent legislation from being fast-tracked.
“I think tonight shows that people don’t want single-party rule in West Virginia,” said Del. John Williams, D-Monongalia, who won a seat to the state Senate Tuesday. “And that the Republican Party does not have a blank check from the electorate to do whatever it wants.”
New faces
New Democrats in the House of Delegates, according to unofficial results, include: Dennis Rempel, Steve Williams, Mathew Anderson, Marisa Jackson, Shannon Welsh, Michael Wendell, Olivia Miller, Eddie Wagoner, Lucia Valentine, Regina Dyer and Jenny Thacker.
Linda Longstreth, a former lawmaker from Marion County, will also rejoin the House after a six-year absence.
Rempel took the seat occupied by Vernon Criss, R-Wood, the House Finance Chair, who was targeted by Gov. Patrick Morrisey in the May primary. Criss mounted a write-in campaign. Rempel won the race.
Williams, a former mayor of Huntington and Democratic candidate for governor in 2024, defeated two-term incumbent Patrick Lucas, R-Cabell.
Valentine was leading incumbent S. Chris Anders, R-Berkeley. Dyer won over two-term incumbent Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia.
Of 34 members, the state Senate previously had two Democrats, Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, and Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, the rest were Republican. Woelfel did not run again, and Democrat Duron Jackson won his seat, increasing the number of Democrats from two to four.
Democrat John Williams, who was previously in the House of Delegates, challenged incumbent state Sen. Mike Oliverio. Williams ran on issues like more support for public education, and he picked up a seat in the Senate representing parts of Marion and Monongalia counties. Democrat Richie Robb also defeated incumbent Anne Charnock.
Dels. Shawn Fluharty also left the House of Delegates to run for state Senate against incumbent Sen. Laura Chapman. Fluharty was defeated.
Democrat Karen Shuler Stakem won Fluharty’s seat in the House of Delegates.
Voter issues
Multiple candidates reported that voters they spoke to were most interested in their positions on data centers, including local control, environmental protections and effects on nearby surroundings. Many Republicans faced fallout for their support of HB 2014, a controversial bill that passed in 2025 and took away local control of data center development.
“I can’t remember a House bill in history that so many voters in the state remember the bill number,” said Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, and chair of the state Democratic Party.
Sen. Laura Chapman, who defeated Fluharty and voted for it, said she faced attack ads that weren’t a truthful explanation of the bill and her position, and she confirmed it was a hot-button issue.
But she believes she won because people were familiar with her work bringing infrastructure projects to the region and her constituent services, even frequently handing out her cell phone number.
“Sometimes politicians disappear after they are elected,” she said. “I don’t do that. I am out and about. It has been the honor of my life to serve the Northern Panhandle for the past four years, and I look forward to great things coming in the future.”
As for the Democrat increase, she says she hopes to work across the aisle on bills that freeze utility rates and enlist West Virginians to help with natural disasters.
While Democrats gained ground in the state legislature, West Virginians returned incumbent Republicans to Congress.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., won a third term. In a statement posted on X, she said she was humbled, grateful and focused on bringing West Virginians’ concerns to Washington, D.C.
She had faced Democrat Rachel Fetty Anderson, an attorney working with children and families.
Anderson said she heard from potential voters struggling with poverty, healthcare, the loss of Obamacare subsidies, transportation and childcare.
Regardless of party, she said she heard anger about war and data centers.
“I think the thing that unifies all of these issues is that in this state we are in a situation where we’re not being listened to as citizens,” she said. “I had Republicans coming up to me on the street and in the stores, just saying, ‘I’m a Republican. I can’t handle this anymore. I’m not voting for a Republican again.’”
She congratulated Capito in her concession speech at 123 Pleasant Street in Morgantown Tuesday night.
“I urge her to listen to the people we met across this state and to put their needs first,” she said.
West Virginians also voted for incumbents Riley Moore and Carol Miller for the House of Representatives.
In the House, Democrat Olivia Miller, a progressive and environmentalist, won the seat vacated by Williams. She noted many were disappointed and frustrated in recent years when Democrats failed to field candidates.
“There were so many seats that were just left unopposed, and there wasn’t even an opportunity for anybody to vote for Democrats,” she said.
And like Anderson, she said she hears from people who’ve watched that result in a Legislature that doesn’t focus on their concerns and instead focus on corporate tax breaks.
“People are falling on really hard economic times, and our Legislature is not working for them,” she said. “I feel that West Virginians are ready to move beyond the focus being on very divisive cultural issues, and they are ready to move forward towards something better.”
Pam Pritt contributed reporting to this story.
