CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Leaders of West Virginia’s two major political parties are reacting to news that Boone County has officially flipped to Republican voter registration.
Last week, the West Virginia Republican Party announced that Boone County had flipped to Republican voter registration for the first time in recorded history, according to party officials.
The release noted that Boone County had remained a Democratic stronghold, rooted in the region’s deep ties to organized labor and the coal industry.
Boone County Delegate and party Chairman Josh Holstein explained the significance of the flip during an appearance on MetroNews Midday last week.
“Just to put that in perspective, in 2016 there was a 7,828-voter deficit, registered voter deficit, that means there was 7,828 more democrats in Boone County ten years ago than there are now, that is massive, for a small county, with only I think 15,000 voters at the time, now it’s just under 14,000,” Holstein said.
Holstein said that with Boone County’s flip, only four counties -Logan, Mingo, McDowell and Monongalia -remain where Democrats hold a voter registration advantage.
Since 2016, Republican voter registration in Boone County has grown from 1,960 voters to 4,892, an increase of 149.6%. During the same period, Democratic registration declined from 9,788 voters to 4,887, a decrease of 50.1%.
Overall, Democrats now account for 35.96% of registered voters in the county, down from 70% in 2016. Republicans make up 36% of registered voters, up from 13.94% a decade ago.
Holstein said he attributes the shift to more voters choosing to register as Republicans rather than Democrats.
“What I think is even more important about that is just how dramatically, not just the registration has changed but how voters have changed in Boone County, and especially with their voting habits, you know back in 2008 President Obama won Boone County, it was one of the few counties in the state that he won,” he said.
Holstein said he believes the gradual shift began after 2008 because of national political trends.
“Really after 2008 is when we saw the biggest swing, it was starting to tighten obviously like I said President Obama won it by about 10 points in Boone County, but what we saw with the decline in the coal industry, the attack of the coal industry at the national level that devastated West Virginia, obviously in particular Southern West Virginia,” he said.
Kanawha County Delegate and West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin also appeared on MetroNews Midday last week.
He said voter turnout is what ultimately matters and that the Democratic Party worked to give West Virginians candidates and issues they could support.
“We drove Democratic turnout, a lot of that had to do with our candidate recruitment plan, where we put candidates up and down the ballot, to give Democrats and Independents who were allowed to vote in our primary, gave them a reason to come out and vote,” Pushkin said.
The May 12 primary election marked the first time West Virginia’s Republican primary was closed to independent voters.
Pushkin said Democrats scored several significant victories in the primary, including gaining a majority on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and helping elect Jim Douglas to the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals.
Pushkin said Democrats were successful in turning out voters during the primary election and that the party will continue encouraging voter participation ahead of the November general election.
“So, the results speak for themselves, so yeah would we rather have more registered democrats, of course and we’re going to be working on that, we will be voter registration drives throughout the summer, but what’s important is who turns out to vote,” he said.