Rupert W. "Rupie" Phillips, Jr. (born February 17, 1969) is an American politician and a Republican member of the

West Virginia Senate The West Virginia Senate is the upper house of the West Virginia Legislature. There are seventeen senatorial districts. Each district has two senators who serve staggered four-year terms. Although the Democratic Party held a supermajority in the ...

since

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

. Prior to his election to the Senate, he 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, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

representing the 19th and 24th Districts from 2011 to 2019.

Politics

First elected as a Democrat to the House of Delegates in 2010, Phillips switched his party registration from Democrat to Independent after the 2016 elections. After a few months as an independent in 2017, Phillips became a Republican and announced a run for the Third Congressional District seat, being vacated by then-Representative Evan Jenkins in 2018. Phillips finished second in the primary to future Congresswoman and then-fellow Delegate Carol Miller. After his unsuccessful Congressional run, Phillips ran as the Republican nominee for the West Virginia Senate 7th District in 2020, where he beat then-Democratic Delegate

Ralph Rodighiero Ralph Rodighiero (born May 26, 1963) is an American politician who served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 24th district from 2014 until 2020. He also previously served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from the 19th distri ...

in the general election.

Personal

Phillips graduated from

Man High School Logan County Schools is the operating school district within Logan County, West Virginia Logan County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,567. Its county seat is Logan. Logan County c ...

. At one point, the license plate on his personal vehicle spelled "COALDEL," for coal delegate, and his twitter biography read, “I eat coal for breakfast.” reflecting his support of the coal industry. He was arrested and charged with domestic battery in 2012. In January 2016, Phillips garnered national headlines for handing out bottles of sunscreen to other Delegates on the House floor to ridicule global warming.

Elections

Senate: U.S. House: House of Delegates: 2012: After being redistricted to District 24 alongside former delegate

Lidella Hrutkay ''Lydella'' is a genus of flies in the family Tachinidae. '' Lydella thompsoni'' can be used in the UK for the biological control of the European corn borer. Species *'' Lydella acellaris'' Chao & Shi, 198 *'' Lydella breviseria'' ( Pandellé, ...

, Phillips ran in the seven-way Democratic Primary and placed first with 2,917 votes (26.2%) ahead of

Ted Tomblin Theodore 'Ted' Jay Tomblin (born February 2, 1971, in Logan, West Virginia) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing District 24 since January 12, 2013. Education Tomblin attended M ...

, who placed second, and former Representative Hrutkay, who took third. Phillips and Tomblin were unopposed for the November general election where Phillips placed second with 6,861 votes (47.4%). 2010: Phillips ran in the eleven-way Democratic Primary and placed third with 3,205 votes (13.0%) ahead of former delegate Ted Ellis. The frontrunners won the six-way four-position November general election where Phillips placed fourth with 8,672 votes (18.1%) behind incumbent Representatives

Greg Butcher Greg is a masculine given name, and often a shortened form of the given name Gregory. Greg (more commonly spelled " Gregg") is also a surname. People with the name *Greg Abbott (disambiguation), multiple people *Greg Abel (born 1961/1962), Canadi ...

, and

Josh Stowers Josh Stowers is a Democratic former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, serving from 2009 to 2013. Stowers resigned from the legislature to take a job as Deputy State Treasurer of West Virginia. Stowers was also previously an assist ...

and ahead of Republican nominees Chad Story and Elias Gregory, who had run for the seat in 2006. 2008: Phillips ran in the twelve-way Democratic Primary, but did not place in the top four in the multimember district. The frontrunners were unopposed for the four-position General election.

References

External links

Official page
at the

West Virginia Legislature The West Virginia Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of West Virginia. A bicameral legislative body, the legislature is split between the upper Senate and the lower House of Delegates. It was established under Article VI o ...

*
Rupert Phillips, Jr.
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Rupert (Rupie) Phillips, Jr.
at the National Institute on Money in State Politics {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Rupert Place of birth missing (living people) 1969 births Living people People from Logan County, West Virginia West Virginia Democrats 21st-century American politicians West Virginia Independents West Virginia Republicans

Politics

Personal

Elections

See also

References

External links