A couple of state Senate incumbents who were targeted by Gov. Patrick Morrisey and his allies held on to retain their seats, but the balance of power among Republicans in the majority was still not totally clear.
Morrisey particularly went after incumbent senators Tom Takubo, a former majority leader, and Vince Deeds of Greenbrier County. Each won their primary races.
But Morrisey’s endorsements and associated spending touched enough winners that the governor still could have significant influence on the chamber going into the next regular session.
Overwhelmingly, but not across the board, incumbents won their Senate races.
“Whoever won tonight, I can tell you that I’m eager to work with them. That’s how I started this process, when I became governor,” Morrisey said on MetroNews election night coverage.
“I’m going to continue it, and I think the composition of the House and Senate are going to be strong and allow me to do that. And then the people West Virginia benefit.”
Republicans have had a 32-2 majority in the Senate the past couple of years, but factions have divided the chamber.
That equilibrium may continue because many of the incumbent Republicans were winners again on election night.
Randy Smith, the current Senate president, was not on the ballot this cycle — but many of his supporters were.
“We’ll get over this. And, you know, looks like Team Randy has done well this evening, and I think we’ve actually picked up a couple people,” said incumbent Senator Jay Taylor, R-Taylor, who was the winner of his primary race.
“And I’m confident that Randy Smith is going to still be our senate president and will do well there.”
Senator Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, challenged Smith for the president’s seat two years ago. Tarr was the winner of a three-way primary on election night and was still assessing how the majority might shape up.
“I’ve said for a while, I expect it’s very likely that Senate leadership could change, and it looks like that’s possibility,” Tarr said.
But, he acknowledged, “it looks very similar to that 2024 split that we had coming out. So we were hoping to be a little bit stronger toward a more sane Senate, I guess I would say, but it looks like it’s going to be close to that split again, almost down the middle.”
The governor has been unusually active with endorsements and campaigning to help some Republican candidates while working against their Republican opponents.
Among Senate races, the governor endorsed:
Incumbent Senator Laura Chapman in District 1; challenger Toby Heaney for a District 2 open seat, incumbent Senator Mike Azinger in District 3 and incumbent Senator Trenton Barnhart in a District 3 unexpired term; incumbent Senator Mark Maynard in District 6 and incumbent Senator Rollan Roberts in District 9; incumbent Senator Darren Thorne in District 15; and incumbent Senator Anne Charnock in an unexpired District 17 seat.
Each of those was a primary election winner.
Morrisey also endorsed incumbent Senator Zack Maynard, who was unopposed in District 7.
The governor endorsed incumbent Senator Kevan Bartlett in District 8, but he was defeated by Kanawha County Commissioner Lance Wheeler in a three-candidate race.
Deeds defeated the Morrisey-endorsed challenger Jonathan Comer in District 10;
And Takubo defeated the Morrisey-endorsed challenger Chris Pritt in District 17.
In a few races, the governor wasn’t particularly active.
Incumbent Senator Ben Queen, R-Harrison, defeated challenger Joe Earley.
Incumbent Senator Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur, beat challengers Jack Reger and former Senator Robert Karnes.
And incumbent Senator Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, defeated challenger Chantele Mack.
Chris Miller of Huntington was unchallenged in his Republican primary.
Unofficial winners in contested Democratic races for Senate were Richie Robb, who will take on Charnock; Cindy Brake, who will take on Zack Maynard; Wyatt Lilly, who will take on Mark Maynard; and Duron Jackson, who will challenge Chris Miller.
The governor was active in the weeks leading up to election day.
“How did we get into this mess to begin with? The elites, liberals, the corporate media, and the Charleston establishment have driven our state in the wrong direction for years,” Morrisey wrote in a Wheeling newspaper opinion piece.
“Entrenched politicians have been walking the halls of Charleston for a long time, endlessly trying the same failed policies while looking out for the same old friends. They have prioritized their own political survival over the fundamentals required to secure West Virginia’s future.”
MetroNews calculated that about $5 million has been spent among a handful of political action committees, particularly in legislative races.
The highest of those is Sugar Maple PAC associated with allies of Morrisey with $1.124 million in spending.
Among other Morrisey aligned political action committees, School Freedom Fund affiliated with Club for Growth has spent $917,000, the political action committee for Americans for Prosperity PAC has spent about $800,000; Mountaineer Conservative Alliance has spent $514,000 and Make Liberty Win spent $400,000.
On the other side of the spending, Mountaineer Freedom Alliance has spent $708,000 and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s political arm has spent $509,000.