The 2022 West Virginia Senate elections were held on November 8, 2022, and elected 17 of the chamber's 34 members. This coincided with elections in the
House of Delegates, and the election of
West Virginia's two representatives. Following the 2020 census, this was the first West Virginia Senate election held after redistricting. Primary elections were held on May 10, 2022.
Retirements
Three members of the West Virginia Senate- two Democrats, and one Republican, did not run for re-election.
Democrats
#District 12:
Mike Romano retired to run for Harrison County Commission.
#District 13:
Bob Beach
Robert D. Beach (born July 21, 1959, Morgantown, West Virginia) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the West Virginia State Senate representing District 13 since January 2011. Beach was also the Democratic nominee for West Virgin ...
retired.
Republicans
#District 14:
David Sypolt
David Sypolt is a former Republican West Virginia state senator from the 14th district who represented part or all of the following counties: Barbour County, Grant County, Hardy County, Mineral County, Monongalia County, Preston County, T ...
retired.
Incumbents defeated
In primaries
Democrats
#
District 1 District 1 may refer to:
* I District, Turku, in Finland
* District 1, Düsseldorf, a district in Düsseldorf, Germany
* Sector 1 (Bucharest), also known as District 1, in Bucharest, Romania
* District I, Budapest in Budapest, Hungary
* Distric ...
:
Owens Brown
Owens Brown is an American politician and activist serving as a member of the West Virginia Senate from the 1st district. He was appointed in September 2021, succeeding incumbent Democrat William Ihlenfeld, who retired to become the U.S. Atto ...
lost renomination to former delegate
Randy Swartzmiller
Randal "Randy" Duane Swartzmiller (born May 14, 1960) is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing the 1st district from 2000 until his defeat for re-election in 2014. Swartzmiller ...
.
In general elections
Democrats
#
District 7 District 7 could refer to:
* District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
* District 7 (Zürich), Switzerland
*District 7, Düsseldorf, Germany
*VII District, Turku, Finland
*District 7 School (Groton, Massachusetts), United States
*District 7 School (Han ...
:
Ron Stollings
Ronny Douglas Stollings (born April 24, 1955) is a Democratic member of the West Virginia Senate, who represented the 7th district from 2006 to 2022. The 7th District is based in Southern West Virginia, covering all of Boone, Lincoln, and Log ...
lost re-election to Mike Stuart.
#
District 8 District 8 can refer to:
*District 8 Jakarta, in Indonesia
*District 8 (Ho Chi Minh City), in Vietnam
* VIII District, Turku, in Finland
* VIII District, Budapest, in Hungary
*Riesbach, also known as District 8, in Zürich, Switzerland
* District ...
:
Richard Lindsay lost re-election to Mark Hunt.
#
District 10 District 10 may refer to:
Places
*District 10 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam
*District 10 (Zürich), in Switzerland
* District 10, an electoral district of Malta
* District 10, a police district of Malta
*District 10 School, a historic school in Marga ...
:
Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome'' (1994), ''The Usual Suspects'' (19 ...
lost re-election to Vince Deeds.
#
District 16 16th district may refer to:
France
* 16th arrondissement of Marseille
*16th arrondissement of Paris
United States
Congressional districts
*California's 16th congressional district
*Florida's 16th congressional district
*Illinois's 16th co ...
:
Hannah Geffert
Hannah Geffert is an American politician serving as a member of the West Virginia Senate from the 16th district. She was appointed in September 2021, succeeding incumbent Democrat John Unger, who retired to become a Berkeley County magistrate. G ...
lost re-election to Jason Barrett.
Seats for Election
In the West Virginia Senate, two members are elected from each of the 17 districts in staggered, four year terms. In the 2022 cycle, nine Republican-held seats and eight Democrat-held seats were open for election. The names of members whose seats were up for election and their winning candidates are below.
Predictions
Senate President Election
The 2023 West Virginia Senate Presidential election will be held on January 11, 2023.
On August 31, 2022, Republican senator and former chair of the Senate Education Committee
Patricia Rucker
Patricia Rucker (born Patricia Elena Puertas on April 27, 1974 in Caracas) is a Republican member of the West Virginia Senate, representing the 16th district since January 11, 2017. Rucker served as the chairwoman of the Senate Education Commi ...
announced that she would challenge incumbent president
Craig Blair
Craig Philip Blair (born October 17, 1959) is an American politician and a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the West Virginia Senate representing West Virginia's 15th Senate district, District 15 since January 12, 2013. Blair ...
in the election. On November 22, Rucker withdrew her bid.
On December 4, 2022, Blair was renominated as President of the Senate unopposed.
Overview
In 2022, the Democrats, though defending fewer seats than the Republicans, had the majority of their caucus up for re-election, leaving them vulnerable to Republicans. Of the eight seats held by Democrats going into the election, all but one elected Republicans.
Appointments
During West Virginia's 85th Legislature (2021-2022), two senators resigned from their positions. According to §3-10-5 of West Virginia Code, vacancies in the Senate 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.
Close races
List of districts
__NOTOC__
District 1
Incumbent
Owens Brown
Owens Brown is an American politician and activist serving as a member of the West Virginia Senate from the 1st district. He was appointed in September 2021, succeeding incumbent Democrat William Ihlenfeld, who retired to become the U.S. Atto ...
was appointed in 2021.
General Election
District 2
Incumbent
Charles Clements was first elected in 2016.
General Election
District 3
Incumbent
Michael Azinger was first elected in 2016.
General Election
District 4
Incumbent
Eric Tarr
Eric J. Tarr (born September 10, 1972) is a Republican member of the West Virginia Senate, representing the 4th district
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fou ...
was first elected in 2018.
General Election
District 5
Incumbent
Mike Woelfel
Mike Woelfel is a Democratic member of the West Virginia Senate representing the 5th district. The 5th district includes all of Cabell County and a small portion of northern Wayne County. In 2022, Woelfel was chosen as Minority Leader of the S ...
was first elected in 2014.
General Election
District 6
Incumbent
Mark Maynard was first elected in 2014.
General Election
District 7
Incumbent
Ron Stollings
Ronny Douglas Stollings (born April 24, 1955) is a Democratic member of the West Virginia Senate, who represented the 7th district from 2006 to 2022. The 7th District is based in Southern West Virginia, covering all of Boone, Lincoln, and Log ...
was first elected in 2006.
General Election
District 8
Incumbent
Richard Lindsay was first elected in 2018.
General Election
District 9
Incumbent
Rollan Roberts was first elected in 2018.
General Election
District 10
Incumbent
Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome'' (1994), ''The Usual Suspects'' (19 ...
was appointed in 2017.
General Election
District 11
Incumbent
Bill Hamilton was first elected in 2018.
General Election
District 12
Incumbent
Mike Romano was first elected in 2014. He is retiring.
General Election
District 13
Incumbent
Bob Beach
Robert D. Beach (born July 21, 1959, Morgantown, West Virginia) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the West Virginia State Senate representing District 13 since January 2011. Beach was also the Democratic nominee for West Virgin ...
was first elected in 2010. He is retiring.
General Election
District 14
Incumbent
David Sypolt
David Sypolt is a former Republican West Virginia state senator from the 14th district who represented part or all of the following counties: Barbour County, Grant County, Hardy County, Mineral County, Monongalia County, Preston County, T ...
was first elected in 2006. He is retiring.
General Election
District 15
Incumbent
Charles Trump was first elected in 2014.
District 16
Incumbent
Hannah Geffert
Hannah Geffert is an American politician serving as a member of the West Virginia Senate from the 16th district. She was appointed in September 2021, succeeding incumbent Democrat John Unger, who retired to become a Berkeley County magistrate. G ...
was appointed in 2021. She initially did not file for re-election, but changed her mind and entered the race.
General Election
District 17
Incumbent
Tom Takubo
Tom Takubo is a Republican member of the West Virginia Senate, representing the 17th district since January 14, 2015. Takubo also serves as Majority Leader of the West Virginia Senate, succeeding Ryan Ferns who was defeated in the 2018 West Virgi ...
was first elected in 2014.
General Election
References
{{2022 United States elections
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 ...
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
West Virginia Senate elections