CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The two major party chairs in West Virginia both say they feel good after their respective primary results Tuesday.
West Virginia Democratic party chairman Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, and West Virginia Republican party chairman Josh Holstein, R-Boone, were guests Wednesday on MetroNews “Midday.”
Pushkin touted a strong showing at the polls from Democrats.
“We’re still getting numbers, but it looks like in every single county, Democrats overperformed,” Pushkin said. “The Democrats came out last night [Tuesday]. The results are, in the races that everybody was voting in, in those judicial races, the candidates that we were supporting, the candidates that the Democrats were supporting, won.”
It’s been a tumultuous election season for the Republican Party. This year’s primary featured mudslinging and vitriol through political action committees and mailers. Despite all the discontent surrounding the election, Holstein said he’s happy with where the party is.
“We’re grateful that Republicans got out and participated,” Holstein said. “We’re looking forward to November, we got a lot of good candidates, and we think we’ll be successful in [the general election].”
West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner announced 21% voter participation statewide during the May 12 primary. The Secretary of State’s office reported 250,755 voters cast ballots in West Virginia, including 67,361 who participated in early voting and 3,533 absentee ballots completed prior to Election Day.
With the Republican primary closed to non-party members, nonpartisan races became a focus for the Democratic Party. Pushkin mentioned the two open State Supreme Court seats, and the change in the Intermediate Court of Appeals.
H.L. Kirkpatrick (31% of the vote) surpassed Governor Patrick Morrisey appointee Gerald Titus (26%) for the open seat left by former Justice Tim Armstead’s passing. Bill Flanigan (57% of the vote) cruised to victory by 28,177 votes past another Morrisey choice, Thomas Ewing (43%), for former Justice Beth Walker’s spot — Walker retired last year.
Pushkin identified new Intermediate Court of Appeals elect Jim Douglas as a registered Democrat as well. Douglas upset incumbent Dan Greear, earning 33,363 more votes than the initial member of the ICA. Greear was one of three selections by then-Governor Jim Justice in 2021 when the ICA was created.
Both Republicans and Democrats alike claim a majority in the state Supreme Court, despite the high court being nonpartisan.
Holstein said he’s not worried about how confident Pushkin is.
“The voters of West Virginia will decide, and they have decided for the last decade that Republicans are the direction they want to take the state,” Holstein said. “They’ve consistently shown that in election results, they’ve consistently shown that in voter registration, and we’ll believe they’ll continue to do that as well in November, we’re confident of that.”
Rifts created through negative campaigning have opened several factions in the Republican Party. Holstein said he’s already begun having conversations with nominees emerging from the primary, trying to get them in lockstep ahead of the November general election.
“That unfortunately happens in elections,” Holstein said. “That happens in primary elections, and the voters ultimately make the decision. That’s what we’ve got to roll with in the party, we support our nominees, and we’ll support them to victory in November.”
Pushkin was quick to say that Democratic races did not feature such negative campaigns. He cited millions of dollars invested in the Republican primary races through negative mail to make their “primary opponents look awful.”
“On our side, to our credit, we had candidates that were talking about real issues. I think the results speak for themselves, we had increased numbers on our side, the Democratic turnout rates were higher. So far, in just about every county that we’ve looked at, and Republicans had low turnout. I think it bodes well for us going into the fall.”
Holstein noted that he was surprised by the margin of victory for incumbent Dr. Tom Takubo in the 17th senatorial district. Takubo defeated challenger Chris Pritt by claiming 56 percent of the vote, beating Pritt by 839 tallies. Especially leading up to Election Day, political action committees influenced the Takubo-Pritt race with significant negative campaigning.
“Obviously, that was the big race of attention, particularly in the Charleston region,” Holstein said. “I was really surprised by the result there, I thought it would be much tighter. I know both of them well, Chris and Tom, they’re both fine men. I expected that to be a little tighter, it got pretty heated there at times.”
Pushkin said he’s thankful for all the Democrats who ran in the election, win or lose. He said the nominees advancing past the primary will continue to meet with voters about prudent issues in the current political landscape. Pushkin said Democratic voters will have plenty of choices when they fill out their ballots in November.
“Compared to what the Republicans have done in this primary, by tearing each other apart and spending millions of dollars on absolutely nothing, I think we’re giving people some good, viable choices and we like where we are right now,” Pushkin said.
Holstein said the Republican Party is ready to move forward.
“I think it’s my responsibility as party chair to bring folks together,” Holstein said. “I believe that, at the end of the day, most of us agree on 95% of the agenda. We look forward to that, and we think we’re going to be successful in November and we’ll come together.”