CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Mixed reaction to Tuesday’s election results among West Virginia Republicans and political observers.
State Senate President Randy Smith said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon that the Senate Republicans have a “clear mandate” to continue their agenda.
There were 18 of 19 Senate races challenged Tuesday and Republicans won 16 of 18. The Democrat victories came in the 13th District where Del. John Williams defeated incumbent Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, and Richie Robb, D-Kanawha, beat Sen. Anne Charnock, R-Kanawha.
Democrats also held on to the 5th District seat that has belonged to Senator Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, who decided not to run again. Duron Jackson beat Republican Chris Miller.
Smith’s statement hailed the Republican victories.
“West Virginians returned a 30-seat Republican supermajority because they’ve seen what Senate Republicans do with the trust voters place in us,” Smith said. “We’ve worked to defend our West Virginia families, let families keep more of what they earn, and make our state the best place to build a business and create jobs in the country. Voters gave us a clear mandate to keep going, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.”
Smith said the Republican Senate Caucus “had the most successful election night of any Republican legislative caucus east of the Mississippi River. Last night’s results were due to a years-long plan to prepare, survive, and thrive in the event of a blue tsunami. Now, we will continue the work for the citizens of our state.”
Smith will try to hang-on to the president’s job when GOP senators caucus in December.
Meanwhile, longtime Republican political strategist Greg Thomas has an entirely different view. He said Tuesday night was the worst night for Republicans in state races since the party gained control at the statehouse in 2014.
Thomas said Republicans have been their own worst enemy in recent years and it resulted in Democrats winning some seats in Tuesday’s election.
Thomas said during a post-election appearance Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline” there were three big reasons contributing to Democratic candidate pick-ups.
Thomas said closing the decision by West Virginia Republican State Executive Committee to close the GOP primary to independent voters was a “terrible decision.” Secondly, he said the blood bath primary among GOP candidates hurt the party and thirdly, Governor Patrick Morrisey’s low approval rating, showed by some polling.
“You can’t make all of those really, really bad decisions and not expect to have a bad result,” Thomas said.
Even after Tuesday’s results, Republicans still hold 30 of 34 state Senate seats and 79 of the 100 seats in the House of Delegates.
Thomas said the result was not unexpected. He’s said for months many of the Republicans now in the legislature have gotten away from business issues and focused more on social issues.
“This interest a mystery here. We didn’t need Scooby Doo to find all of the answers here. This was coming,” Thomas said.
Political observer Tom Susman said the 12-member pickup for Democrats in the house is key when it comes to the way the House operates.
“If they stay at 21 then they can stop the suspension of the Constitutional rule at the end of session when they (GOP) tries to run things out there in one day,” Susman said on MetroNews Midday.
Susman said he observed some of the winners Tuesday had broad-based support. He said maybe the state is coming back to the middle.
“This is my personal hope that we are getting away from the extremes and are trying to get back to the middle,” Susman said.
Thomas said both the House and Senate will continue to be conservative but the question remains if the large majorities will focus on issues to build the state’s economy.
“I think the House of Delegates gets better,” Thomas said. “The question is on the Senate side. Will the state Senate get better and will the governor step up?”