By STEVEN ALLEN ADAMS
Staff Reporter
CHARLESTON – The past year saw several major stories in the world of West Virginia state government, including the end of a major Democratic political dynasty with the retirement of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, while Republicans secured all major statewide elected offices.
Manchin retires
After more than 42 years in West Virginia politics, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is ending his public service at the end of the month.
Manchin, I-W.Va., took to the Senate floor earlier this month to give his final speech, looking back at his nearly 15 years in the seat once held by the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
“Throughout my life as a public servant, I have seen the power of good people coming together to solve tough problems,” Manchin said. “Now, as my time here comes to an end, I want you to know that my belief in the potential of this institution and each and every one of you that represent it remains as strong as ever. And I’ve said this, I believe in you probably more than you believe in yourself at times.”
Manchin, 77, won a special election in 2010 to succeed Byrd following his death. Manchin won a full six-year term to the U.S. Senate in 2012 and was reelected in 2018. But in November 2023, Manchin announced he would not run for a third term. He briefly toyed with a third party candidacy for U.S. president on a unity ticket with a Republican at the beginning of 2024, but he changed his mind when ballot access became an issue.
Coming from a storied Marion County political family that included the late Secretary of State and State Treasurer A. James Manchin, Joe Manchin played football at West Virginia University and went into business, first in his family’s carpet store and later in the coal industry.
Manchin was first elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1982 and was elected to the state Senate in 1986. After losing the Democratic primary for governor in 1996, Manchin won election in 2000 as Secretary of State. Manchin finally won election as governor in 2004 and was reelected for a second term in 2008.
After spending years touting himself as a West Virginia Democrat, Manchin switched his voter registration to unaffiliated in May, with rumors of a possible run for governor, though those rumors did not come to pass. Instead, Manchin will spend his retirement working with his daughter, Heather Manchin, in Americans Together, a non-profit focused on recruiting political moderates for higher office.
West Virginia secured as red state
Manchin’s switch from Democrat to unaffiliated earlier this year meant the first time the Democratic Party did not have an elected member in a statewide office in nearly 100 years.
Manchin was succeeded by Democrat-turned-Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who wraps up his second and final term as governor at the beginning of January. Justice, who switched to the Republican Party after winning election as a Democrat in 2016, won the May Republican primary in November general election for U.S. Senate.
Justice has acknowledged he has not been a typical governor. Speaking following his U.S. Senate election in November, Justice said he wouldn’t be a typical U.S. Senator either.
“The way I did this all along, it’s going to be different. I can’t do this the way that it’s been done in D.C.,” Justice said. “I’ve got to do this my way, and really and truly my way has surely proven to be really, really fruitful. Now, with all that being said, the great people of the State of West Virginia believed in me. They stepped up.”
Justice will be succeeded next month by current three-term Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who won a contentious Republican primary for governor in May and a landslide general election in November. Morrisey was first elected as attorney general in 2012, defeating longtime Democratic Attorney General Darrell McGraw who died earlier this month.
Morrisey announced his transition plans in November a week after his election as governor, focusing on a review of state government operations, recruitment of staff, and solicitation of ideas from the general public.
“I want to start out by thanking the people of West Virginia for providing me with a resounding victory and a mandate to govern,” Morrisey said. “There’s so much good happening in our state, and I’m looking forward to building on past success.”
Morrisey will be succeeded as attorney general by outgoing two-term State Auditor J.B. McCuskey, who will be succeeded as state auditor by state Sen. Mark Hunt, R-Kanawha. One-term State Treasurer Riley Moore won election in November to the 2nd Congressional District and will be succeeded by Department of Revenue Secretary Larry Pack.
Secretary of State Mac Warner, who lost in the May primary for governor, will be succeeded by his brother, Economic Development Authority Executive Director Kris Warner. Only Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt is remaining in his seat for a third and final term.
In the Legislature, Republicans not only maintained their supermajority status but also picked up seats. The 100-member House of Delegates went from 89 Republicans to 91 Republicans, shrinking the Democratic House caucus from 11 to nine members. In the 34-member state Senate where half of the body is up for election every two years, Republicans increased their supermajority from 31 to 32, with the Democratic Senate caucus dropping from three seats to two.
Going into the November general election, the Republican Party has 498,230 registered voters, representing 41.2% of West Virginia’s total number of registered voters. The Democratic Party has 354,462 registered voters, or 29.3% of registered voters. Republicans led in voter registration in 47 out of 55 counties.
Changes in West Virginia Senate
The May Republican primary saw the defeat of Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, opening up a hole in the leadership of the upper body of the Legislature.
Blair was elected to the 15th Senatorial District in 2012 after spending eight years in the House of Delegates representing Berkeley County. After serving as chair of the Senate Government Organization Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, Blair became Senate President in 2021 after former senator president Mitch Carmichael lost his GOP primary in June 2020.
“I am blessed by the fact that I got to preside as Senate president and lieutenant governor over West Virginia’s greatest time of prosperity,” Blair said earlier this month. “It’s been a privilege to be able to come in here every morning.”
The Republican Senate caucus gathered earlier this month to vote for its nominee for senate president, which will be voted on by the entire Senate on Wednesday, Jan. 8. The top three candidates were Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee Chairman Randy Smith, R-Tucker, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr, R-Putnam.
After two rounds of voting, the caucus chose Smith to be its senate president nominee. He said he did not promise his fellow GOP senators anything to win over caucus votes. He simply promised to lead by listening to his fellow senators.
“I was elected by my peers…I think it’s because I don’t pretend to be someone that I’m not,” Smith said following the vote on Dec. 9. “I’m a very humble person…I mean what I say, and I say what I mean. You know where I stand on everything because I believe honesty is the best policy.”
Smith, a retired coal miner who spent much of the final years of his career in mine safety, was first elected to the Senate in 2016. Smith was a two-term member of the House of Delegates first elected in 2012, where he served as an assistant House majority whip after Republicans took the majority in the House in 2015.
Last week, Smith announced that Senate Economic Development Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Martin, R-Lewis, will become the next Senate Majority Leader, succeeding Takubo. In a talk radio interview, Tarr said he would not continue to be chair of the Senate Finance Committee. And former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Trump, R-Morgan, resigned as he prepares to take his seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com
