Craig Philip Blair (born October 17, 1959) is an American politician and a

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 ...

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 t ...

representing

District 15 District 15 or 15th district can refer to: U.S. political districts Federal level * Illinois's 15th congressional district * Michigan's 15th congressional district * Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district * Ohio's 15th congressional district S ...

since January 12, 2013. Blair served non-consecutively in 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 ...

from January 2003 until January 2011 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 ...

in the District 52 seat. Blair is also the father of former WV Delegate

Saira Blair Saira Blair (born July 11, 1996) is a former politician from Martinsburg, West Virginia, Martinsburg, West Virginia, and was the youngest person elected to state or federal office in the United States upon her election in 2014 (until the election ...

. As President of the state Senate, Blair has held the title

Lieutenant Governor of West Virginia The president of the West Virginia Senate is a member of the West Virginia Senate who has been elected to be its president by the other senators. The current Senate president is Craig Blair, who has been in office since January 2021. In addition ...

since January 2021.

Elections

2020

Blair narrowly defeated challenger Kenneth Mattson, a former military police officer and small business owner, in the Republican primary, and beat

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 & ...

challenger Donald Kinnie in the general election. *

2016

Blair easily defeated challenger

Larry Kump Larry Douglas Kump (born January 27, 1948, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania) is an American politician who served as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2020. Early ...

in the Republican primary and Democratic challenger Brad Noll in the general election. *

2012

After his unsuccessful run in 2010, Blair was redistricted to District 15, and with incumbent Senator

Clark Barnes Clark S. Barnes (born August 6, 1950) is a former member of the West Virginia Senate, representing District 15 as a Republican. Originally elected in 2004, Barnes was reelected to the Senate’s District 15 in 2008. He ran in the 2012 election f ...

redistricted to District 11, Blair was unopposed for the May 8, 2012 Republican Primary. He went on to win the November 6, 2012 General election with 28,766 votes (80.8%) against Constitution Party candidate Daniel Litten.

2010

Rather than run for re-election to the House of Delegates, Blair challenged Senate District 16 incumbent Democratic Senator

John Unger John Ronald Unger II is a former American politician and magistrate. Prior to his appointment as a Berkeley County magistrate, Unger represented the 16th district in the West Virginia Senate from 1999 to 2021. The 16th District includes all of ...

. Blair was unopposed for the May 11, 2010 Republican Primary, but lost the November 2, 2010 General election to Senator Unger by 318 votes (less than 1%).

2008

Blair was unopposed for the 2008 Republican Primary, and won the November 4, 2008 General election with 4,994 votes (54.8%) against Democratic nominee Mike Roberts.

2006

Blair was unopposed for both the 2006 Republican Primary and the November 7, 2006 General election.

2004

Blair was unopposed for the 2004 Republican Primary, and won the November 2, 2004 General election with 5,193 votes (62.5%) against Democratic nominee Scott Funk.

2002

When House District 52 Democratic Delegate Vicki Douglas retired from the Legislature and left the seat open, Blair won the 2002 Republican Primary with 624 votes (55.2%) against Jerry Mays and won the November 5, 2002 General election with 2,735 votes (64.5%) against Democratic nominee Craig Shibley.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Campaign site
*
Craig Blair
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 ...

Craig P. Blair
at the National Institute on Money in State Politics 1959 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Martinsburg, West Virginia Republican Party West Virginia state senators Presidents of the West Virginia State Senate {{WestVirginia-politician-stub