CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Whatever happens in the November election, the West Virginia Senate will select a new leader.
The current Senate president, Republican Bill Cole, is giving up that position because he’s running for governor. The minority leader, Jeff Kessler, also gave up his Senate seat because of his unsuccessful Democratic run for governor.
Republicans currently have only an 18-16 majority in the Senate, so either party could select the new president, depending on the outcome of the races Nov. 8.
“First of all, you have to see who wins the election,” Kessler said. “You don’t want to be counting your chickens before they’re hatched.
“If the Democrats get it, they’ll be jockeying and maneuvering around. There’s a lot of capable folks. It’s the same on the Republican side. I’ve heard those names, but I’ll tell you I’ve heard just about everybody’s name.”
On the Republican side, current Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael is among the names being discussed, along with Senators Mike Hall and Ed Gaunch.
On the Democratic side, Senators Doug Facemire and Roman Prezioso are names in the mix.
Of course, much can happen between now and Election Day. Both parties are quick to point out uncertainty that they’ll even hold a majority.
A possible progression if Republicans keep the majority would be Carmichael‘s ascension to the president’s chair.
“Oh, sure, certainly, yes — I think the expectation is that would be the role for me moving forward,” said Carmichael, who is among those up for election in November.
“We have an election to go through and we have to ensure the Republicans maintain the majority and we’ll see the internal election process go forward.”
One question if Republicans maintain the majority would be whether they see Carmichael as conservative enough. He notably made an impassioned speech against the Religious Freedom Restoration Act bill that many social conservatives favored.
If conservatives don’t side with Carmichael, they might turn toward someone like Gaunch, a first-term Republican from Kanawha County. Both Carmichael and Gaunch received high scores from the American Conservative Union.
“If the job chases me, I think I’m up to it and I’d be interested,” said Gaunch, who is chairman of the tax reform subcommittee.
“At this point, I’m more interested in making sure we maintain our majority in the Senate. I’ve been approached but at this point I’ve basically just called off the dogs and said let’s get the election over with.”
Nothing is certain yet, said Hall, who is the Senate Finance chairman and a former minority leader. Hall said he would be interested in the Senate president role if he has support.
“I’m interested in it, yes. There are others who are also interested,” Hall said.
“I don’t know who will become Senate president. There are conversations about different ones. We’ve actually talked and everybody has decided who has any interest in it at all, including myself, that no serious campaigning or politicking for it will go on. After the election we’ll sit and meet.”
The last time there was an opening, in 2014, Hall said, everyone quickly got behind Cole, who had only been in the Senate since 2012.
“We knew Bill would be the Senate President. It was the fait accompli last time. This time it is not. But we’re trying to avoid that kind of stridency in our caucus. Human beings as they are, probably there will be some philosophical arguments over who will be more conservative or this or that. At the end of the day, once it’s all over with we’ll make a good decision.”
Hall noted that by virtue of having the legislative majority for eight decades, Democrats are veterans of such decisions.
“They had a history, since they were in power all those years, of dealing with a presidential election. In the absence of a clear candidate, they were pretty aggressive about it.”
Facemire is a Braxton County resident who has served in the Senate since 2008. Prezioso is a Fairmont resident who was first elected to the Senate in 1996.
Both have opponents in their re-election campaigns.
The departing Kessler, who has been both Senate President and Minority Leader, would like to see his party regain control.
“You can get things done. You name people to committees, you pick chairmen, you can have some control of the agenda, make sure there are issues you think are important to people of the state, moving us forward. You have the ability to make it happen,” Kessler said.
“In the minority, all you’re doing is fighting with the other side.”