The 2004 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2004 for the post of Governor of West Virginia. Democratic Secretary of State of West Virginia Joe Manchin defeated Republican 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 served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

losing the state to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

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 A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

*Louis J. Davis, candidate in 1996 *Phillip Frye, husband of incumbent governor's mistress * Lloyd G. Jackson II, former

*Jim Lees, attorney and candidate for governor in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* Joe Manchin, West Virginia Secretary of State and candidate for governor in

*Lacy W. Wright, Jr., former

Campaign

Democratic governor Bob Wise became the first governor of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

not to stand for re-election since the Constitution of West Virginia 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 were released to the public through a Freedom of Information Act request. Angela Mascia's then husband, Phillip Frye, divorced Mascia and ran for governor. Frye told ''

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'' 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, and after Wise withdrew from the race he became the favorite for the primary. Manchin lined up support from various sources including labor leaders in order to reverse his defeat in the gubernatorial primary in 1996. His main opponent in the primary was former

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 protect ...

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 them 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 (armed forces), 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 colon ...

and developer; 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 candidate, unsuccessfully attempted to get the West Virginia Supreme Court 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.

Predictions

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Cabell (largest city: Huntington) * Greenbrier (largest city: Lewisburg) * Hardy (largest city: Moorefield) * Mercer (largest city: Bluefield) * Monroe (largest city: Peterstown) *

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

(largest city: Wheeling) * Pendleton (largest city: Franklin) * Pleasants (largest city: St. Marys) *

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

(largest city:

Marlinton Marlinton is a town in and the county seat of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 998 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Located along the Greenbrier River, it is known for its scenery. History Marlint ...

) * Raleigh (largest city: Beckley) * Summers (largest city: Hinton) * Taylor (largest city: Grafton) * Wetzel (largest city: New Martinsville) * Brooke (largest borough: Wellsburg) * Ritchie (largest municipality: Harrisville) *

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

(largest municipality: Romney) *

Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

(largest municipality: Keyser) * Morgan (largest municipality: Berkeley Springs) * Upshur (largest municipality: Buckhannon) * Wirt (largest municipality: Elizabeth) * Preston (largest municipality: Kingwood) *

Wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

(largest municipality: Parkersburg)

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

General election

Campaign

Predictions

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

References

See also