2020 West Virginia elections

House of Representatives

All 3 Incumbent Republican U.S. Representatives were easily reelected, all increasing their vote share compared to 2018.

Governor

Incumbent Republican governor Jim Justice won reelection to a second term over Democrat Ben Salango with 64.8% of the vote. Justice increased his vote margin substantially compared with his first election in 2016, when he was the democratic candidate, receiving just 49.1% of the overall vote. This was the first time a Republican candidate carried every county in the state during a gubernatorial election.

State legislature

State senate

17 of the 34 seats in the

All 100 seats in the West Virginia House of Delegates will have an election. Nineteen incumbents chose not to seek re-election: 11 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Republicans flipped 18 seats, increasing their majority in the chamber from 58 to 76 seats.^[3][4]

Attorney general

Republican incumbent Patrick Morrisey was re-elected with 51.63% of the vote in 2016 and successfully sought re-election.^[5]

Republican primary

Candidates

• attorney general of West Virginia and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018^[6]

• Sam Petsonk, attorney[7]
• Isaac Sponaugle, state delegate^[8]

Polling

General election

Secretary of state

Treasurer

Democratic incumbent John Perdue was re-elected with 50.33% of the vote in 2016, but lost re-election to Republican candidate Riley Moore.^[10]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Governor of West Virginia in 2011

• Riley Moore, former state delegate

Polling

General election

Auditor

Republican incumbent JB McCuskey was elected with 58.48% of the vote in 2016 and successfully sought re-election.^[11]

Republican primary

Candidates

• JB McCuskey, incumbent West Virginia State Auditor

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Mary Ann Claytor, accountant and auditor, nominee for West Virginia State Auditor in 2016, candidate for
  West Virginia State Senate in 2018, and former candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2020^[12]

General election

Commissioner of Agriculture

Republican incumbent Kent Leonhardt was elected with 48.41% of the vote in 2016 and successfully sought re-election.^[13]

Republican primary

Candidates

• West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture
• Roy Ramey, farm owner and
  West Virginia State Senate in 2014^[14][15]

• Bob Beach, state senator^[16]
• William Keplinger, farmer and businessman^[17]
• Dave Miller, farmer^[18]

Withdrawn

• Patricia Bunner, attorney^[19]

General election

Supreme Court of Appeals

Division 1

The incumbent was Tim Armstead, who was appointed to the court to replace Justice Menis Ketchum, who resigned from the court shortly before being convicted on a felony fraud charge. Armstead then won a 2018 special election to serve the remainder of Ketchum's term with 26.1% of the vote. He successfully won re-election to a full term.^[20][21]

Candidates

• West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals^[21]
• David Hummel Jr., circuit court judge on the Second
  West Virginia Circuit Court^[22]
• Richard Neely, former chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals^[23]

Division 2

The incumbent Margaret Workman, did not seek re-election after controversies and the threat of possible impeachment. Bill Wooton, a former state senator, was elected with 31.0% of the vote.^[20][24]

Candidates

• Jim Douglas, family court judge on the Eleventh
  West Virginia Circuit Court^[25]
• Kris Raynes, Putnam County assistant prosecuting attorney^[26]
• Joanna Tabit, circuit court judge on the Thirteenth
  West Virginia Circuit Court^[27]
• West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in 2016^[28]

Division 3

The incumbent was John A. Hutchison, who was appointed to the court to replace justice Allen Loughry, who resigned from the court in the midst of his impeachment trial. Hutchison successfully sought re-election to serve the remainder of Loughry's term.^[20][29][30]

Candidates

• Lora Dyer, circuit court judge on the Fifth
  West Virginia Circuit Court^[31]
• John A. Hutchison, incumbent justice and former circuit court judge^[29]
• William Schwartz, attorney^[32]

Notes

References

External links

• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "West Virginia", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "West Virginia: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of West Virginia". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• West Virginia at Ballotpedia
• "Election Guides: West Virginia", Spreadthevote.org, archived from the original on October 4, 2020, retrieved October 7, 2020. (Guidance to help voters get to the polls; addresses transport, childcare, work, information challenges)
• "State Elections Legislation Database", Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures, State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020

Official campaign websites for Attorney General

• Patrick Morrisey (R) for Attorney General Archived May 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
• Sam Petsonk (D) for Attorney General Archived May 23, 2020, at the Wayback Machine

Official campaign websites for Secretary of State

• Natalie Tennant (D) for Secretary of State
• Mac Warner (R) for Secretary of State

Official campaign websites for Treasurer

• Riley Moore (R) for Treasurer
• John Perdue (D) for Treasurer

Official campaign websites for Auditor

• Mary Ann Claytor (D) for Auditor Archived June 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
• JB McCuskey (R) for Auditor

Official campaign websites for Commissioner of Agriculture

• Bob Beach (D) for Commissioner
• Kent Leonhardt (R) for Commissioner