The 2004 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2004 for the post of

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. Democratic

Secretary of State of West Virginia The Secretary of State (U.S. state government), Secretary of State of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, in ...

Joe Manchin Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor of ...

defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Monty Warner. Manchin won all but 3 counties. Despite Democratic presidential nominee

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

losing the state to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

by double digits in the concurrent presidential election, Manchin won by nearly 30 points.

Democratic primary

Candidates

*Jerry Baker *James A. Baughman, former State Senator *Louis J. Davis, candidate in 1996 *Phillip Frye, husband of incumbent governor's mistress * Lloyd G. Jackson II, former State Senator *Jim Lees, attorney and candidate for governor in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

West Virginia Secretary of State The Secretary of State of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election res ...

and candidate for governor in

*Lacy W. Wright, Jr., former State Senator

Campaign

Democratic governor

Bob Wise Robert Ellsworth Wise Jr. (born January 6, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 33rd Governor of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, Wise also served in the United States House of Representatives from ...

became the first governor of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

not to stand for re-election since the

Constitution of West Virginia The Constitution of the State of West Virginia West Virginia State Constitution is the supreme law of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It expresses the rights of the state's citizens and provides the framework for the organization of law and gover ...

was amended in 1970 to permit two consecutive terms. In August 2003 he announced that he would not stand again after admitting to an affair with a West Virginia Development Office employee Angela Mascia who was also married. The announcement took place three months after this became public knowledge and over 500 emails exchanged between the two was released to the public through a

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

request. Angela Mascia's then husband, Phillip Frye, divorced Mascia and then ran for Governor. Frye told

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

in August 2003 that he was running “to be a sheer nuisance to Bob Wise” and "I'm not qualified to run our great state, or have any hopes whatsoever of winning an election." West Virginia Secretary of State Joe Manchin challenged Wise for the Democratic

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

, and after Wise withdrew from the race he became the favorite for the

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

. Manchin lined up support from various sources including labour leaders in order to reverse his defeat in the gubernatorial primary in 1996. His main opponent in the primary was former State Senator Lloyd Jackson, who launched his campaign with a plan to reduce

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

costs. In the run up to the primary the two candidates traded negative advertising but Manchin won an easy victory in the primary on May 11.

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

*Carroll B. Bowden, Sr. *Rob Capehart, former West Virginia Secretary of Tax and Revenue * Larry Faircloth, State Delegate *Douglas McKinney, physician *Dan Moore, banker and car dealership owner *Joseph Oliverio, construction executive *James D. Radcliffe, Jr. *Charles D. Railey *Richard Robb, Mayor of South Charleston *Monty Warner, businessman

Campaign

The Republican primary saw 10 candidates competing for the nomination. Six of the candidates met in a debate in March 2004, in which they agreed on the need to reduce the size of the West Virginia state government. It saw a close race between three main candidates Monty Warner, a retired army

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and

developer Developer may refer to: Computers * Software developer, a person or organization who develop programs/applications * Video game developer, a person or business involved in video game development, the process of designing and creating games * Web d ...

, Rob Capehart, a former state tax secretary, and Dan Moore, a former banker and car dealer. A poll conducted during the lead-up to the primary showed the three candidates virtually even. Warner won a narrow victory in the primary over Moore and Capehart.

Results

General election

Campaign

Early in the campaign, Warner called for Manchin, as a centrist Democrat, to endorse President

for re-election over his Democratic rival

. Manchin's campaign

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

responded that Manchin backed "the Democratic nominee". The two main candidates faced each other in three debates and one

town hall meeting Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...

. Jesse Johnson, the

Mountain Party The Mountain Party is a political party in West Virginia, affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. It is a progressive and environmentalist party whose party platform primarily focuses on "Grassroots Democracy", "Social Justice & ...

candidate, unsuccessfully attempted to get the

West Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 t ...

to cancel the first debate, as he was not asked to take part. Manchin had an edge in the election with better

name recognition In politics, name recognition is the ability a voter has to identify a candidate's name due to a certain amount of previous exposure through various campaigning methods. It can be described as the awareness voters have about specific candidates r ...

and a strong financial advantage over Warner. In the closing weeks of the election campaign, Manchin spent $3.3 million against $880,000 by Warner.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

General election

Campaign

Predictions

Results

References

See also