LOGAN, W.Va. — Logan County has flipped red for the first time ever.
A primarily Democratic area for many years, Logan County now has more registered Republicans than Democrats. The state Republican Party announced the historic switch in a release. Fifty-two of West Virginia’s 55 counties now have more registered Republicans than Democrats, giving the GOP a more than 200,000 voter edge statewide heading into the November General Election.
“Logan County has been a Democrat stronghold for as long as anyone can remember,” State Republican Party Chairman Josh Holstein said. “People there have decided for years that the Democrat Party no longer speaks for them. Their families built this state in the coal mines, and they want leaders who will stand up for their jobs and for their way of life and they have found that home in the Republican Party.”
State Senator Rupie Phillips, R-Logan, praised the development.
“I felt it was coming, but I didn’t think it would come this fast,” Phillips said on MetroNews “Midday” on Tuesday. “So, I am happy and excited about it.”
Phillips said that voters changing their registration wasn’t a huge surprise, indicating that residents in the area align with the values held by the Republican Party.
“I still think that southern West Virginia has a lot of good, middle-of-the-road, conservative folks — I don’t want to call them Democrats, independents, or Republicans — they’re just good, southern people.”
Phillips said he doesn’t understand the national approach by Democrats, which he said could be a contributing factor in more people joining the GOP.
“When you look at the national platform on the Democratic Party, you’ve got to really scratch your head on some of it,” Phillips said. “It sort of boggles my thoughts on some of the stuff that you hear.”
Switching from Democrat to Republican is something that Phillips knows well. He was elected into the state House of Delegates in 2010 as a Democrat, then became an independent six years later.
“I was the first one in the county that was in office and switched,” Phillips said. “Granted, I went to independent first, but within months, I switched to Republican when I made that run for Congress.”
“I had a lot of people come up to me during that timeframe and patted me on the back,” Phillips continued. “I was worried about it, but when I hear some of the people that I thought would never, ever switch parties and this year they switched, I’m like, ‘wow.'”
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.