![]() Democrats held a supermajority in both legislative chambers as recently as 2008. “The Republican leadership in the legislature appears to have been quite effective at designing a new set of election maps for the voters that will at least maintain their overwhelming super majorities,” said Scott Crichlow, an associate political science professor at West Virginia University. Traditional Democratic strongholds such as Charleston, Fairmont and Morgantown and the Northern Panhandle were divided to the GOP's advantage. No Democrats are running in six of those races. Along with the elimination of multiple-member districts in the House of Delegates, that meant the GOP-dominated Eastern Panhandle gained two House seats for a total of 12. And the question is, what is going to be their strategy to win back the state to like the times where they were once dominant?”ĭemocrats, who long ruled the state on the strength of their strong union presence and a clear identity as the party of working people, complained the 2020 redistricting further diluted their influence even more. "Right now, they're in a very weak position. ![]() “I think the Democrats are at a crossroads," said Robert Rupp, a retired political history professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College. The new voters need candidates to support. 8 election, but bolstering voter rolls alone may not matter. "A complete abortion ban in West V is unacceptable. “We will organize, strategize, and mobilize," Delegate Danielle Walker, the state party's vice chairwoman, wrote on Twitter after the legislation passed Sept. The Democratic Party, which has been in freefall in the state for years, wasn't able to recruit enough candidates to stay competitive even if public opinion shifted in its favor. That’s much higher than the 15% of ballot spots that Democrats did not fill in the 2020 general election.įiling deadlines for legislative races passed long before the abortion ban was enacted. With Republicans holding advantages of 23-11 in the state Senate and 78-22 in the state House, one-fourth of the races on the November ballot have no Democratic candidates.
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