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2016 West Virginia gubernatorial election

The 2016 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the Governor of West Virginia, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on May 10.

Incumbent Democratic Governor Earl Ray Tomblin was barred from running for a second full term. He had ascended to the governorship upon Joe Manchin's resignation in 2010, won a 2011 special election to complete the term, and won a full term in 2012. Under the West Virginia Constitution, a partial term counts toward the limit of two consecutive terms.

Democratic nominee Jim Justice, a coal and agriculture businessman, won the open seat with a plurality of the vote, defeating Republican state senator Bill Cole and former state senator Charlotte Pritt, who ran as a member of the Mountain Party. As of 2024, this is the last time a Democrat was elected Governor of West Virginia. Having switched parties in August 2017, Justice was re-elected as a Republican in 2020; his party switch gave Republicans a trifecta in the state for the first time since 1931.[1]

Background

In November 2010, Democratic Governor Joe Manchin resigned after being elected to the U.S. Senate. Earl Ray Tomblin, the president of the West Virginia Senate (with the honorary title of lieutenant governor), became acting governor, won an October 2011 special election to complete the term, and won a full term in the regularly scheduled 2012 election. Tomblin was ineligible to run for re-election in 2016 as the Constitution of West Virginia limits governors to two consecutive terms regardless of whether they are full or partial terms. However, governors are re-eligible after four years out of office.[2][3]

After publicly speculating he would run for his former office, Manchin was considered a heavy favorite in the 2016 race, but he announced on April 19, 2015 that he would remain in the Senate instead.[4]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Polling

Results


Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Did not file

Declined

Endorsements

Bill Cole
Individuals
Organizations
Newspapers

Polling

Hypothetical polling

Results

Mountain Party

Candidates

Declared

Endorsements

Charlotte Pritt

Individuals

Organizations

  • West Virginia Sierra Club, environmental organization[42]

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Declared

General election

Debates

Predictions

Polling

→ Indicates an internal poll conducted by the West Virginia Republican Party for Bill Cole.

Hypothetical polling
with Booth Goodwin
with Jeff Kessler
with Joe Manchin
  • * Internal poll for Joe Manchin

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Justice won 2 of 3 congressional districts, both of which elected Republicans.[51]

Maps

References

  1. ^ Staff, WSAZ News (November 4, 2020). "Justice wins second term as W.Va. governor". www.wsaz.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Miller, Tom. "2016 race for governor could be crowded". The Lincoln Journal. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  3. ^ King, Joselyn (May 18, 2011). "Tomblin, Maloney win nominations". Wetzel Chronicle. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  4. ^ Ramsey, Pam (April 19, 2015). "Manchin says he'll stay in Senate, forgoes governor bid". The Journal. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  5. ^ "Ex-US attorney Goodwin files for W.Va. governor race". The Journal. January 4, 2016. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  6. ^ Eyre, Eric (May 11, 2015). "Greenbrier owner Jim Justice enters governor's race". The Charleston Gazette. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  7. ^ Ebert, Joel (March 19, 2015). "Kessler says he'll run for governor in 2016". Charleston Daily Mail. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Sunday Sit-Down: West Virginia GOP Chairman Conrad Lucas". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register. November 16, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  9. ^ Jenkins, Jeff (June 15, 2015). "Auditor Gainer planning re-election bid in 2016". West Virginia MetroNews. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "West Virginia Undergoing Political, Generational Change". Roll Call. May 1, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  11. ^ "GOP Senate may run purple". Politico. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  12. ^ "Manchin, 50-50 on Possible Return Run for Governor". West Virginia Public Broadcasting. April 7, 2015. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  13. ^ Raju, Manu (April 14, 2015). "Joe Manchin signals stronger interest in West Virginia governor run". Politico. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  14. ^ Eric Bradner (April 19, 2015). "Joe Manchin picks Senate over governor's bid". CNN. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  15. ^ Aaron Blake (January 23, 2015). "The 5 best governors races in the country". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  16. ^ Jonathan Mattise (January 23, 2015). "Though @WaPost says otherwise, WV Treasurer John Perdue's office says he's not running for governor". Twitter. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  17. ^ "W.Va. Secretary of State Files Early Re-Election Paperwork". West Virginia Public Broadcasting. March 19, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Official 2016 Primary Election Results". West Virginia Secretary of State. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  19. ^ Johnson, Shauna (June 2, 2015). "Republican Bill Cole launches 2016 gubernatorial campaign". West Virginia MetroNews. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  20. ^ a b Deitz, Leah (May 15, 2015). "Jim Justice vying for Governor's Office". Mountain Messenger. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  21. ^ Ebert, Joel (June 17, 2015). "Cole endorsed by Congressman Jenkins". Charleston Daily Mail. Archived from the original on June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  22. ^ Hicks, Ian (June 1, 2015). "McKinley Won't Run for Governor". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  23. ^ Johnson, Shauna (March 19, 2015). "Morrisey says he is considering a possible run for governor in 2016". West Virginia MetroNews. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  24. ^ "Morrisey has $850K for possible governor bid". The Journal. April 2, 2015. Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  25. ^ Jenkins, Jeff (June 16, 2015). "Morrisey opts to seek reelection instead of governor's office". West Virginia MetroNews. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  26. ^ a b c d e "WV House Delegation for Cole". Friends of Cole. October 8, 2015. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  27. ^ "U.S. Sen. Capito backs Bill Cole in run for governor". WV MetroNews. April 11, 2016.
  28. ^ "UPDATE: Charleston Mayor announces he's dropped Republican affiliation". wsaz.com. June 17, 2016.
  29. ^ "NFIB endorses Bill Cole for Governor". WV MetroNews. July 18, 2016.
  30. ^ "West Virginia Endorsements 2016". National Right to Life. October 15, 2016. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  31. ^ "W.Va. Coal Association endorses Bill Cole for governor". Bluefield Daily Telegraph. February 13, 2016.
  32. ^ "Endorsement: Republican Bill Cole, governor of W.Va". Bluefield Daily Telegraph. October 23, 2016.
  33. ^ "Daily Mail endorsement: Experience makes Cole a better fit for governor". Charleston Gazette-Mail. October 25, 2016.
  34. ^ "Cole will bring progress to West Virginia". Daily Times. October 17, 2016.
  35. ^ "Elect Cole For Real Progress". The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register. October 15, 2016.
  36. ^ "Cole will deliver progress for W.Va". The Inter-Mountain. October 15, 2016.
  37. ^ "Cole should be the next governor of West Virginia". The Journal. October 16, 2016.
  38. ^ "Leadership: Bill Cole should be our next governor". The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. October 18, 2016.
  39. ^ "Mountain Party chooses Pritt as gubernatorial candidate". The Charleston Gazette. July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  40. ^ "Back to the future: The return of Charlotte Pritt". July 20, 2016.
  41. ^ "Charlotte Pritt: The Mountain Party's Maverick". November 4, 2016. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  42. ^ Sconyers, Jim (September 10, 2016). "West Virginia Sierra Club Endorses Pritt For Governor". Sierra Club. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  43. ^ Staff (April 2016). "WV Libertarians announce candidates for statewide offices". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  44. ^ "2016 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  45. ^ "Elections 2015-16". Daily Kos. Retrieved October 15, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  46. ^ "Gubernatorial Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  47. ^ "Our Final 2016 picks". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Archived from the original on October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  48. ^ "2016 Election Maps - 2016 Governor Races". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  49. ^ "2016 Governors Races Ratings & News". Governing Magazine. Archived from the original on October 27, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  50. ^ "Statewide Results General Election November 8, 2016". West Virginia Secretary of State. State of West Virginia. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  51. ^ https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=785128

External links

Official campaign websites (Archived)