It’s Election Day in West Virginia, with two members of Congress going head-to-head in redistricted northern counties plus 100 single-member districts for the House of Delegates for the first time.
Here’s what you need to know:
Timing: Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Where’s my polling place? The West Virginia Secretary of State has a handy portal to check your voter registration and polling place.
The Secretary of State also launched an interactive map where voters can enter their registration address to find the address and directions to their polling location.
Haven’t some people voted already? Some!
Early voting took place April 27 to May 7.
The Secretary of State’s Office reported that 58,684 West Virginians voted early and in-person through 5 p.m. Saturday, which was the last day.
The office said 6,574 absentee ballots were requested and that 3,897 were returned by partway through the day Monday.
That’s all a fraction of West Virginia’s registered voters. Through April, the Secretary of State’s Office counted 1,135,437 registered voters in West Virginia.
What should voters know when they go to vote today on Election Day? What has Mac Warner, @wvsosoffice, heard and seen so far? He joins @HoppyKercheval. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/uiPfKUtRkU
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) May 10, 2022
What’s on my ballot? Ballotpedia has a sample ballot tool to enter your address and get useful voting information.
What’s at stake? The top of the ballot is congressional races.
Because West Virginia lost population over the past decade, it lost one of its three congressional seats. Lawmakers at the Statehouse decided on a general north-south split for the two remaining districts, resulting in a collision between two incumbents, Republicans David McKinley and Alex Mooney.
McKinley, a Wheeling resident, has served in Congress since 2011, representing what had been West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District. Mooney, a Charles town resident, has been elected for what was the 2nd Congressional District since 2015.
Other Republicans in the race for West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District include Susan Buchser-Lochocki of Morgantown, Rhonda Hercules of Wheeling and Mike Seckman of West Union. Competing on the Democratic side are Angela Dwyer of Martinsburg and Barry Lee Wendell of Morgantown.
The latest MetroNews West Virginia Poll showed Mooney leading by 15 points over McKinley among likely primary voters. The others were receiving just a small amount of support.
This race has drawn significant attention, with Mooney receiving a much-sought endorsement by former President Donald Trump and McKinley receiving endorsements by Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, and Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat.
The Mooney-McKinley matchup has also drawn attention by national media outlets like The New York Times, The Atlantic and CBS News.
West Virginia Republicans will have to choose between two sitting members of the house when they vote in the primary elections this week. Alex Mooney and David Mckinley are pitted against each other for a shot at one of the remaining seats. pic.twitter.com/FSGGMT3zVG
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 7, 2022
You said there’s another congressional district, too Oh yeah!
The state’s other Republican congressional incumbent, Carol Miller, is running for re-election in the redistricted southern counties.
She has competition. Other Republicans running for Congress in the district are Scott Fuller of Kenova, James Edwin Houser of Mount Nebo, Zane Lawhorn of Princeton and Kent Stevens of Milton.
Democrat Lacy Watson is running unopposed in the primary.
What else?
Half of the seats in West Virginia’s 34-member state Senate are on the ballot.
Those districts were also changed through the redistricting process because of population shifts in the state.
Some of the Republican primary battles of note include Delegate Mick Bates taking on incumbent Senator Rollan Roberts in the Beckley area and Delegate John Kelly challenging incumbent Senator Mike Azinger in the Parkersburg area.
Republicans currently hold a 23-11 supermajority in the Senate.
Anything else? Yes.
After years of incremental change, West Virginia’s House of Delegates has finally gone from 67 districts to 100 single-member districts.
The upshot is, 84 of the 85 incumbents who filed for re-election did so in districts with different boundaries than those they represented before 2022.
So that is likely to make a difference in the makeup of the House, with the districts more focused geographically and with candidates unable to attain office even if they place out of the top spot.
Right now, Republicans hold a 78-22 supermajority in the House of Delegates. More than half of the incumbents have no opposition in the Primary Election.
Where can I hear how all this turns out? Glad you asked.
West Virginia MetroNews stations and websites will have live coverage starting at 7:06 p.m., anchored by Hoppy Kercheval.
The MetroNews website will also feature live results.