The 2022 West Virginia House of Delegates election was held on November 8, 2022, electing all 100 members of the chamber. This coincided with the election of 17 of West Virginia's 34 state senators, and the election of West Virginia's two U.S. representatives. Primary elections were held on May 10, 2022. Due to redistricting, this was the first House of Delegates election in which all members were elected from single member districts, with West Virginia following a trend of states phasing out multi-member districts in recent decades.

Background

In the 2020 House of Delegates election, the Republican Party gained almost twenty seats from the Democrats, achieving supermajority status. This has followed West Virginia's sharp turn towards the Republican Party in the past twenty years, and the Republicans' growing prominence in state politics. Since 2020, two Democrats have changed parties, making nearly 80 percent of the chamber Republican.

Retiring incumbents

Democrats

Five Democrats are retiring. #District 5: Dave Pethtel retired. #District 20: Nathan Brown retired to run for

Mingo County Mingo County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,568. Its county seat and largest city is Williamson. Created in 1895, Mingo is West Virginia's newest county, named for the historic Iroq ...

Commission. #District 34: Brent Boggs retired. #District 51:

Barbara Fleischauer Barbara Evans Fleischauer (born September 1, 1953 in Homestead, Pennsylvania) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing District 51 since January 12, 2013. Fleischauer served consecuti ...

retired to run for

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

from District 13. #District 67: John Doyle retired to run for Jefferson County Commission.

Republicans

Nine Republicans are retiring. #District 10:

John R. Kelly John R. Kelly (born September 23, 1946) is an American Republican Party politician, who has represented Wood County in the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2014. Early life John R. Kelly was born on September 23, 1946 in Parkersburg, Wes ...

retired to run for

from District 3. #District 16:

John Mandt John Franklin Mandt Jr. (born May 8, 1963) is an American businessman, politician, who formerly served as a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 16, which includes parts of Cabell and Lincoln counties. ...

retired to run for

Cabell County Cabell County is located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,350, making it West Virginia's fourth most-populous county. Its county seat is Huntington. The county was organized in 1809 and named for ...

Commission. #District 22: Zack Maynard retired. #District 25: Tony Paynter retired to run for Wyoming County Circuit Clerk. #District 30: Mick Bates retired to run for

from District 9. #District 32:

Kayla Kessinger Kayla Kessinger (born November 25, 1992) is an American politician who served in the West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Vir ...

retired. #District 48:

Ben Queen Benjamin Queen is an American writer and producer. He was the creator/showrunner for the NBC television show ''A to Z''. He wrote the screenplays for MGM's ''The Addams Family 2'', and the Pixar animated movie '' Cars 2'', and co-wrote the story ...

retired to run for

from District 12. #District 52: Terri Sypolt retired. #District 61: Jason Barrett retired to run for

from District 16.

Predictions

Speakership Election

The 2023 West Virginia House of Delegates speakership election will be held on January 11, 2023. On August 8, 2022, Brandon Steele, a Republican from Raleigh County, announced his intent to run for Speaker against incumbent

Roger Hanshaw Roger Hanshaw (born March 24, 1980) is an American politician from West Virginia who currently serves as the Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, in office since August 2018. West Virginia House of Delegates Hanshaw was first elected ...

. House Democratic leader

Doug Skaff Douglas John Skaff Jr. is an American politician from the state of West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Skaff serves as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 35th district ...

stated on the Mountain State Views podcast that he and his caucus would support Hanshaw over Steele in a speakership contest. On December 4, 2022, Hanshaw was chosen to lead the Republican caucus for another two years, winning with 53 votes to Steele's 30. In the Democratic caucus, Skaff was re-elected as minority leader.

Overview

2022 West Virginia House Election Results

Close races

Districts where the margin of victory was under 10%: # District 56, 1% # District 27, 1.6% # District 82, 2.6% # District 50, 3.6% # District 52, 4% # District 24, 5.2% # District 32, 9% # District 75, 9% # District 76, 9.2% # District 5, 9.2% # District 100, 9.6% # District 3, 9.8% # District 70, 7.6%

Appointments

During West Virginia's 85th Legislature (2021-2022), several delegates resigned from their seats in the House of Delegates. According to §3-10-5 of West Virginia Code, vacancies in the House of Delegates are filled through appointment by the Governor of one of three candidates chosen by the executive committee of the outgoing member's party. Below is a list of appointments made during the 85th Legislature.

Incumbents defeated

In primaries

Democrats

#District 27: Chad Lovejoy lost renomination to fellow incumbent Ric Griffith in a redistricting race.

Republicans

#District 11:

Roger Conley Roger Conley (born September 9, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Delegate from the 10th district to the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2020 to 2022. Conley is a Republican. Early life, education, and career Conley was bor ...

lost renomination to Bob Fehrenbacher. #District 14: Shannon Kimes lost renomination to Dave Foggin. #District 18: Johnnie Wamsley lost renomination to Jim Butler. #District 28:

Josh Booth Joshua Booth (born 9 October 1990) is an Australian rower. He is a triple Olympian and Olympic silver medal winner from Melbourne, Australia. He rowed in the Australian men's eight at the London 2012 Olympics, Rio 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic ...

lost renomination to Mark Ross. #District 59: Dianna Graves lost renomination to Andy Shamblin. #District 69:

Danny Hamrick Daniel 'Danny' C. Hamrick, born on April 27, 1988, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, is an American politician and former Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. He represented District 48 from 2012 to 2022. In the 2022 West Virg ...

lost renomination to Keith Marple. #District 74:

Guy Ward Guy Ward is an American politician from West Virginia. He is a Republican and represented District 74 in the West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three ...

lost renomination to Mike DeVault. #District 89:

Ruth Rowan Ruth Rowan (born September 12, 1948) is an American politician from the U.S. state of West Virginia. She is a member of the Republican Party and served as a member the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 57th District, which represented pa ...

lost renomination to Darren Thorne. #District 90: Ken Reed lost renomination to fellow incumbent George A. Miller in a redistricting race.

In general elections

Democrats

# District 3: Phillip DiSerio lost re-election to Jimmy Willis. # District 7: Lisa Zukoff lost re-election to Charles Sheedy. # District 36:

Ed Evans Edward Evans (born February 9, 1959) is an American politician and former teacher. He served as a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 26th district from 2016 to 2022. Early life Evans was born on February 9, 1959, ...

lost re-election to Anita Hall. # District 67: Cody Thompson lost re-election to Elias Coop-Gonzalez

Republicans

# District 50: Austin Haynes lost re-election to David Pritt. # District 56: Andrew Anderson lost election to incumbent

Kayla Young Kayla Ann Young (born July 12, 1988) is an American politician serving as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 56th district. Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on December 1, 2020. Education Young earned a Bache ...

List of districts

District 1

Incumbent

Pat McGeehan Patrick Riley McGeehan is a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and a former candidate for the United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2014. He is the son of Lt. Col. Mark McGeehan who died in the 1994 Fairchild ...

was first elected in 2014.

General Election

District 2

Incumbent

Mark Zatezalo Mark Peter Zatezalo (born March 16, 1952) is an American politician who has served in the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2020. A hydrogeologist by training, Zatezalo also served in the House of Delegates from 2014 to 2018. References

was first elected in 2014, left the House of Delegates in 2018, and was elected again in 2020.

General Election

District 3

Incumbent Phillip Diserio was first elected in 2012, left the House of Delegates in 2014, and was elected again in 2016.

General Election

District 4

Incumbent Erikka Storch was first elected in 2010.

General Election

District 5

Incumbent

Shawn Fluharty Shawn Lucas Fluharty (born January 5, 1984) is an American politician who has served in the West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryla ...

was first elected in 2014.

General Election

District 6

Incumbent Charlie Reynolds was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 7

Incumbent Lisa Zukoff was first elected in 2018.

General Election

District 8

Incumbent David Kelly was first elected in 2018.

General Election

District 9

Incumbent Trenton Barnhart was appointed in 2019.

General Election

District 10

Incumbent

William Anderson William Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Anderson (artist) (1757–1837), painter of marine and historical paintings * William Anderson (theatre) (1868–1940), Australian stage entrepreneur * William Anderson (1911–1986), ...

was first elected in 1992.

District 17

Incumbent Jonathan Pinson was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 18

Incumbent Johnnie Wamsley was first elected in 2020. Wamsley lost the Republican primary to Jim Butler.

General Election

District 19

Incumbent

Kathie Hess Crouse Kathryn "Kathie" Hess Crouse (born December 2, 1969) is an American politician and activist serving as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 13th district. She was appointed by Governor Jim Justice on December 2, 2021. Early ...

was appointed in 2021.

General Election

District 20

Incumbent Geoff Foster was first elected in 2014.

General Election

District 21

Incumbent Jarred Cannon was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Joe Jeffries' resignation in June 2022, one month after Cannon won the Republican primary for District 21.

General Election

District 22

Incumbent Daniel Linville was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 23

Incumbent Evan Worrell was first elected in 2018.

District 24

General Election

District 25

Incumbent

General Election

District 30

General Election

District 31

Incumbent Margitta Mazzocchi was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 32

Incumbent Josh Holstein was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 33

Incumbent

Jordan Bridges Jordan Bridges (born November 13, 1973) is an American actor, best known as Frankie Rizzoli on ''Rizzoli & Isles'' (2010–2016). Early life Bridges was born in Los Angeles County, California, and is the son of actor Beau Bridges and Julie Brid ...

was first elected in 2020.

District 34

Incumbent Mark Dean was first elected in 2016.

General Election

District 35

General Election

District 36

Incumbent

was first elected in 2016. In the close District 36 Republican primary, Tom Acosta, who held a one vote lead in election night returns, was defeated by the same margin by Anita Hall after canvassing.

General Election

District 37

Incumbent

Incumbent Brandon Steele was first elected in 2018.

General Election

District 43

Incumbent Christopher Toney was first elected in 2018.

General Election

District 44

General Election

District 45

Moore Capito Arch Alfred Moore Capito (born August 30, 1982) is an American attorney and politician who has served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 35th district since 2016. He announced on November 29, 2022 that he would stand as a candidate ...

, son of United States senator

Shelley Moore Capito Shelley Wellons Moore Capito ( ; born November 26, 1953) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from West Virginia since 2015. A me ...

, was first elected in 2016.

District 56

Incumbents

was first elected in 2020. In 2022, incumbent Larry Pack, running against Young in the general election, resigned from the House of Delegates. His successor, Andrew Anderson, will replace him as the Republican nominee for District 56.

General Election

District 57

Incumbent

was first elected in 2018.

General Election

District 58

General Election

District 59

Incumbent Dianna Graves was appointed in 2017. Graves lost the Republican primary to Andy Shamblin.

General Election

District 60

Incumbent Dana Ferrell was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 61

Incumbent

Joe Statler Joe Statler (born December 8, 1952) is an American politician, currently serving as a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2020, representing the 51st district, which includes Morgantown and the majority of Monongal ...

was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 78

General Election

District 79

Incumbent

General Election

District 83

General Election

District 84

Incumbent D. Rolland Jennings was appointed in 2017.

General Election

District 85

Incumbent

John Paul Hott John Paul Hott II (born September 23, 1969) is an American politician serving as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 54th district. Elected in November 2018, he assumed office on December 1, 2018. Early life and education ...

was first elected in 2018.

General Election

District 86

Incumbent Bryan Ward was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 87

Incumbent Gary Howell was first elected in 2010.

General Election

District 88

General Election

District 89

Incumbent

Incumbent

Paul Espinosa Paul Allen Espinosa is an American politician and a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing District 66 since January 12, 2013. Education Espinosa earned his bachelor's degree in Child Services from West Virginia We ...

was first elected in 2012.

General Election

District 99

Incumbent Wayne Clark was first elected in 2020.

General Election

District 100

General Election

Notes

References

{{2022 United States elections House of Delegates West Virginia House West Virginia House of Delegates elections