CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Democrats in West Virginia are looking for more seats to flip blue when the final ballots are counted in the November General Election.
House Minority Leader and Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, told MetroNews there will be positive results.
“Oh, it’s going to be loud and clear,” Hornbuckle said. “We are going to gain seats in the House. We’re going to gain seats in the Senate. We’re gonna win some commission races, and it’s gonna be a message that people are tired of being lied to. People are tired of being played with, and they want action to improve their lives now.”
Democrats have increased their efforts to fill ballots this time around. Two years ago, the party only had 59 candidates in 100 House of Delegates races. Similarly, there were just nine Democrats in the mix for 17 state Senate seats.
There has been a concerted effort to change that in the 2026 General Election. There are Democratic nominees in 16 of the 19 state Senate races, and 89 candidates in the 100 House races.
Kitchen Table Tour
West Virginia House Democrats made stops in six counties during their Kitchen Table Tour in the months prior to Election Day. Those events featured discussion of hot-button, ‘kitchen-table’ issues that the Mountain State faces. Democrats also took the opportunity to introduce their candidates in each area along the way.
State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin pointed to rising concerns about affordability as something that drives people to the polls. He said that’s the case this year, with plenty of ‘day-to-day’ challenges such as gas prices, grocery prices, and utility rates drawing concern.
Democrats have twice asked Gov. Patrick Morrisey to convene the legislature for a special session to suspend the state gas tax, in April and again in October. The governor did issue a State of Emergency last month to enable the temporary highway use of red-dyed diesel in all 55 counties. Those gas prices have soared as the United States’ conflict with Iran continues.
“There have been some solutions offered by the Democrats, and it’s fallen on deaf ears,” Pushkin said.
Hornbuckle said it’s important to showcase the efforts that Democrats are making, through events such as the Kitchen Table Tour in Marion, Kanawha County, Boone, Jefferson, Hancock, and Cabell counties.
“We have been fighting for ‘kitchen table issues,'” Hornbuckle said. “Most people are not excited at the gas prices. Most people are not excited at grocery prices. Most people are upset that our public schools are closing by the droves. We want to make sure that they know that we have candidates that are going to offer them a different choice than what they’ve currently been receiving.”
Beyond affordability and calls for education reform, many Democrats have cited concerns about artificial-intelligence-powered Flock cameras and data center development to support their candidacies.
Charleston resident Judy Hamilton spoke with MetroNews during the Kitchen Table Tour stop in Kanawha County in late September. She said that Democrats’ care for hot-button topics has been refreshing.
“We have legislators who care about what’s happening in their lives and in their homes,” Hamilton said. “These Democratic leaders care that things are unaffordable. They care that trying to fill up your truck with diesel has become an impossible dream for some families and put food on the table.”
‘Cautiously optimistic’
Over the past couple of decades, many deep blue counties in West Virginia have turned red. Most recently, Boone and Logan counties — longtime Democratic strongholds — have flipped to a majority Republican registration. Only three Democratic counties remain in West Virginia: McDowell, Mingo, and Monongalia. The other 52 are now Republican counties.
Republicans have a more than 200,000 registered-voter edge heading into Election Day.
Pushkin admitted that Democrats face an uphill climb. He did point to polling from Lake Research Partners, which he said showed some positive momentum for the Democratic Party in West Virginia. He reported that polling found growing dissatisfaction from West Virginians with their elected officials.
“We definitely have challenging voter registration numbers here in West Virginia, but what (we saw) in the early voting are Democrats are showing up at a greater number,” Pushkin said. “So that’s significant, considering our voter registration numbers, that more Democrats are showing up. We’re optimistic, but polls don’t vote, people do, and we’ll see where the chips fall.”
How everything turns out remains to be seen, Pushkin said.
“I think we’re cautiously optimistic,” Pushkin said. “But the reason that we’re seeing this is because, look, the Republicans have been in control of every aspect of our government for a decade, over a decade here in West Virginia. And people don’t like the way things are going. The vast majority of West Virginians feel we’re on the wrong track and they’re placing the blame solely where it belongs, and that’s on the Republicans.”
From a resident’s perspective, Hamilton said that she’s displeased with how Republicans handled data center regulation by passing House Bill 2014 last year.
“I’m very frustrated and angry that in the last legislative session, the Republican super-majority in the legislature took away communities’ rights to have any say in the data centers, and in plastic burning facilities, being placed next to their schools,” Hamilton said. “That was removed from our ability to even make a public comment about.”
Hornbuckle said that, going forward, Democrats need to have more of a voice. There are only nine Democrats in the 100-seat House of Delegates, and just two Democrats in the State Senate.
“The overall theme is, I don’t care what you do in life, everything has to have balance,” Hornbuckle said. “If you don’t have balance, it doesn’t work. Currently right now, our state legislature, our executive branch, there’s no balance there.”
“It’s all leaning one way, and there’s no coincidence that the state has gone downhill since they’ve been in charge,” Hornbuckle added. “It’s no coincidence that we lead the country in population loss. We’re no longer state of 1.8 million people, we’re a state of 1.7 million people.”
Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, also expressed optimism about the possibilities if Democrats gain some seats.
“We have no shortage of good ideas,” Lewis said. “However, Democrats in West Virginia, we need numbers in the state House to establish balance. We’re not under any imaginary things (that) it’s gonna be a 50-50 split. However, with more numbers, it gives us a little bit more leverage to introduce policies. And again, just to bring that balance, so, we just don’t have one side of the aisle, development policies that, in some ways, don’t work for the majority of West Virginia.”
Moving forward
West Virginia Republican political strategist Greg Thomas has taken a look at some projections on how many seats the Democrats can flip.
“I think in the state Senate, a really bad night for Republicans could be five seats,” Thomas said. “I think, more than likely, it’s going to be one or two. So, I think it’ll be bad. I doubt it’s going to be terrible.
“There’s a potential for it to be, on the House side, more than likely 10 seats the Republicans will lose, but they could lose 15 in a bad day,” Thomas added.
Hornbuckle called for more balance of power going forward. He’s hopeful that the Democrats can springboard some momentum from the Kitchen Table Tour in election results.
“We can put lipstick on a pig, but we understand that we have to change things,” Hornbuckle said. “The only way that we’re going to do that is if we add balance to the legislature and make sure that we have more people that are Democrats that speak to everyday values, not outside corporations.”
Hamilton cited a growing national displeasure with Republican leadership and pledged to make her voice heard.
“I’m going to attend public events,” Hamilton said. “I’m gonna vote, and I’m gonna vote for legislators and public officials that care about what my opinions are.”