CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Democratic Party hopes the 2026 elections can help rebuild the party’s power with a significant increase in Democratic candidates filing to run for office.
According to state Democratic Party chairman Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, there are Democrats running in 90 of this year’s 100 House of Delegates races and 17 of the 19 State Senate races. He said that is not a trend that developed overnight.
“This is a process that started really three years ago, four years ago, when we started working to rebuild the infrastructure of the county committees. I’m happy to say we have very few counties right now where we don’t have that structure in place. That’s how you identify and recruit the best candidates,” he said Monday on MetroNews Talkline.
In 2024, Democratic candidates appeared on the ballot in just 58 House races and 9 Senate races. Only four House districts fielded enough Democrats to hold primaries, and none of the 17 Senate districts did.
With final candidate filings still trickling in through the mail after Saturday’s deadline, Pushkin counts 110 House candidates and 22 Senate candidates, which means several Democratic nominations will be decided with primary elections.
“We think that that’s healthy. That gives voters choices as well, and then we’ll know we’ll have a battle-tested candidate ready to go in the fall, and for those that have the luxury of not having primaries, they can raise money, attend as many public events as possible, and get their names out there in other ways,” he said.
Quantity is not the only thing in mind for Democratic leaders as the days tick down toward the May primaries. With former lawmakers like Linda Longstreth and Steve Williams pursuing seats in the legislature, Pushkin believes there are Democrats capable of winning seats in the fall.
“We have quality candidates up and down ballot. I really like a lot of these matchups, and I think we are going to make some significant gains in both chambers and restore some balance and sanity to state government,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party seems to be in for a busy spring with contested primaries in 16 Senate races and 42 House contests despite the existing supermajority. Pushkin envisions that drawing focus away from seats currently held by Democrats,
“There are nine Democratic seats out of 100 in the West Virginia House of Delegates and as it stands right now while we’re waiting for the mail to come in, six of those seats are unchallenged by Republicans. It seems to me that Gov. Morrisey and the West Virginia Republican Party have spent more time recruiting against Republicans than they have on challenging us,” he said.
In statewide races, three positions in West Virginia’s congressional delegation are up for grabs in 2026 with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, as well as Reps. Riley Moore and Carol Miller are all up for reelection. Five Democrats have filed to run for Senate with two pursuing the nomination in the 1st Congressional District and three more in the 2nd District.