Entering West Virginia’s 2024 primary election, number of Republican, non party registrations rise

The number of registered Republicans in West Virginia has increased over the last eight years, while the number of registered Democrats has decreased. (Stephen Maturen | Getty Images)

The number of registered Republicans in West Virginia has grown by 27% over the last eight years, an increase party leaders attribute to the Democratic Party moving more to the left. 

As of April 2016, just months before 68.6% of voters in West Virginia voted to elect former President Donald Trump in that year’s general election, 374,931 West Virginians were registered as Republicans, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. That number rose to 477,656 as of April 23 this year. 

Over the same time period, Democratic voter registrations declined by 38%, from 577,977 in 2016 to 357,918 in 2024 while the number of registered voters not affiliated with any party grew by 15%, from 254,265 to 293,030.

In 41 of West Virginia’s 55 counties, more Republicans than Democrats registered to vote in this year’s primary election, up from 14 counties during the 2016 primary election. 

Matt Herridge, a Wood County businessman who was elected chair of the state’s Republican Party in January, said several things have contributed to the rise in Republican voters, but among them is that the Democratic Party has moved away from representing the values of “typical West Virginians.”

“A West Virginian is somebody who has often a very strong faith,” Herridge said. “They believe strongly in family values. They believe in the idea of freedom: freedom of speech, the Second Amendment, the freedom to own a gun, the freedom to speak your mind.

“I think what's happened, fortunately for the Republican Party, but unfortunately for the Democratic Party, that party has continued to move further and further to the left, and really don't represent the values of typical West Virginians,” he said.

Herridge pointed to Democrat “attacks” on the coal and natural gas industries, which he said are important parts of the state. 

“A lot of those voters who were solid Democrats, maybe they were a part of a union or something, saw that as a slap in the face to their future income to their family’s stability, and that  was a big part of that as well,” he said. 

The total number of registered voters in West Virginia has declined about 5%,from about 1.24 million in the 2016 primary to 1.18 million as of last month, according to the Secretary of State’s office. 

Social issues — like abortion, which several Democratic candidates for statewide office have made cornerstone to their 2024 races — have also contributed to more West Virginians identifying as Republicans, Herridge said. 

Kyle Saunders, executive director of the West Virginia Republican Party, said the party has become the “natural answer” for people as they decide which party they most align with. 

“Our platform has remained largely unchanged over the past 20 years; I don't know that you can say the same about the Democratic Party, at least on a national level,” Saunders said. “So I think the more that the Democratic Party has moved to accommodate more liberal voting blocks across the country and even in pockets of West Virginia, I think the further they went away from the average West Virginia voter and their values and their beliefs.”

Republicans took control of the state Senate and House of Delegates in 2014, ending 83 years of Democratic control.  

Leaders expect the Republican Party to increase its supermajority control of both chambers of the state Legislature following this year’s election. With the retirement of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the GOP is also likely to hold all four seats of West Virginia’s congressional delegation and every statewide office, Herridge said. 

Del. Mike Pushkin, chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, pointed to the growing number of independent voters as an indication that younger voters don’t feel loyalty to one party or another. 

According to a 2023 Gallup poll, 49% of U.S. adults described themselves as politically independent, the same amount as those who said they were Republican and Democrats combined. Due to a resolution passed by the state Republican Executive Committee in January, this will likely be the last primary election where unaffiliated and independent voters are able to cast votes in Republican primaries.

“I think you’ll see more people voting in the Republican primary this year because they’re the supermajority, they have more contested primaries that a lot of people will be picking up those ballots not just to vote for somebody, but in a lot of cases to vote against somebody,” Pushkin said.

Pushkin said the real test, to be determined during the general election, will be to see if the negative campaigning by Republicans attracted more voters or turned people off.

Advertisements in the gubernatorial race, where four prominent Republicans are vying to take the place of Gov. Jim Justice, have largely centered on social issues, like rights for transgender people, the border and support for former President Donald Trump.

During a primary election, Herridge said, candidates are typically speaking to more conservative voters who are driven to get out and vote. Come the general election, Herridge said he’d like to see more candidates focusing on addressing financial issues that affect younger voters, like the ability to buy a home or afford groceries as costs go up.

“Day-to-day life, the most important thing in [voters’] life, is probably not transgender rights,” he said. “It’s ‘am I going to be able to afford my rent this month, or my meals this month?’ And so I really believe that that is a message that, as we move into the general [election], we need to continue to talk about. What our differential is from a financial perspective.”

The Republican Party’s state executive committee will meet May 18 to vote on a statewide platform that has already been submitted to members for evaluation. Herridge said the platform focuses on “faith, family and freedom,” as well as positions about school choice and lower taxes. 

“It's all about the importance of respecting religious freedom, the Second Amendment, freedom of speech, it basically goes back to a Bill of Rights type of thing,” Herridge said. 

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