CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Early voting begins in the Mountain State on Wednesday, and two major party chairs are making final preparations.
The ten-day early voting period runs through October 31, with Election Day set to follow on November 3.
State Republican Party Chairman Josh Holstein said on MetroNews “Midday” on Tuesday that he feels “pretty good” heading into a whirlwind two-week stretch.
“Month after month, the last several years, we’ve seen Republicans gain in voter registration across the state,” Holstein said. “We just got the numbers for the first couple of weeks of October before the deadline, and we saw again another 1,500 or 1,600 registered (Democrats) joined the party.”
Meanwhile, State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin pointed to numbers from a Lake Research Partners poll to indicate some positive momentum for his party. He said that the polling results revealed that most West Virginians were against data centers. Pushkin added the poll showed that voters “trust Democrats” to handle challenges with data centers “overwhelmingly more than Republicans.”
“This is in a state where the registration numbers are still not in our favor,” Pushkin admitted on MetroNews “Talkline” recently. “That’s true. That’s what makes this so remarkable is that folks overwhelmingly trust Democrats to push back against these AI data centers. They trust Democrats more to fight for their health care, to fight for their public schools overwhelmingly through the issues that we looked at in this poll.”
Holstein said the Republican Party is in a good place heading into election season. Logan County, a longtime “stronghold” for Democrats, recently flipped red. That gave Republicans a registered-voter edge in 52 of West Virginia’s 55 counties.
“We’re seeing momentum all over the place, and we think that that will translate to votes,” Holstein said. “Really, just since last cycle, we did very well in 2024, and we won 91 out of 100 of our House seats, 32 out of 34 of our state Senate seats. Even since then, we’ve seen Republican momentum really move in our direction.”
While the polling numbers are encouraging, Pushkin said voting results are all that matters.
“The polling is just something with what the voters are feeling right now,” Pushkin said. “It’s our job as a party to reinforce that messaging and to whether it’s through digital, or however the advertising is, or some good, old-fashioned door to door to get out there and talk to the voters. More importantly, continue to listen to the voters and just get that vote out.”
Holstein said Republicans have cut taxes on Social Security in the state, in addition to making positive tax developments with income, motor vehicles, and veterans. Along with that, he said, they’ve helped small businesses.
“I think we’ve really listened to our voters with the concerns that they have,” Holstein said. “We’re trying to make the policy changes to enact things that make affordability better and to make cost of living better and to make West Virginia a better place for them to live.”
Pushkin said that the party is looking to turn those poll results into gaining seats in November.
“I think we’re seeing an atmosphere that we haven’t seen for quite some time in West Virginia,” Pushkin said. “Polls don’t vote, I get that, the only poll that really matters is on Election Day.”
Gas prices have been a big topic of concern in West Virginia, and across the nation, since the conflict with Iran began. Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a State of Emergency in all 55 counties on Tuesday to allow red-dyed diesel fuel to be used temporarily on highways.
Holstein noted that both sides of the political aisle have discussed soaring gas prices. He said the Republican Party is determined to bring those prices down.
“Obviously, I think it’s being used right now as a political pawn, and I hate that,” Holstein said. “It’s not really something that that we should frankly do. But obviously, people want relief at the pump. And that’s where the big pension, the checkbook is that right now. And we want to help deliver that.”
In the poll by the Lake Research Partners, there’s a significant difference in answers between Republicans and Democrats and how “enthusiastic” they are about their party’s direction. While 88 percent of Democrats were “enthusiastic,” Republicans responded at a 76-percent clip. Similarly, 63 percent of Democrats were “extremely enthusiastic,” as opposed to 42 percent of Republicans feeling that way.
Pushkin said that changes within the Republican Party have disenfranchised some of its members, along with independent voters.
“It’s not just that the Democrats are feeling more enthusiastic, I think it’s the independents and a lot of dissatisfied Republicans who are, I believe, are feeling buyer’s remorse right now,” Pushkin said.
Learn more about the 2026 voting process here.