The 2018 West Virginia Senate elections were held on November 6, 2018, as part of the biennial United States elections. 17 of West Virginia's 34 state senators were up for election. West Virginia Senate districts each have two elected representatives. State senators serve staggered four-year terms in West Virginia, with one senator from each district up in even-numbered years corresponding to presidential election years (most recently held in 2016), and the other up in even-numbered years corresponding to presidential midterm years.
Primary elections in the state were held on May 8. After the previous 2016 state elections, Republicans held a majority in the Senate, holding 22 seats to the Democrats' 12. The Republican Party had long been the minority party in West Virginia, but the decline of the strength of coal worker unions, the Democratic Party's increasing focus on environmentalism, the unpopularity of President Barack Obama, and the increasing social conservatism of the Republican Party had helped the GOP solidify power in the state rapidly since 2000.
Despite the high popularity of President Donald Trump within the state and his 42-point margin of victory there in 2016, the Democrats gained two seats in the West Virginia Senate in 2018. This can be attributed to the competitive U.S. Senate race at the top of the ticket (which was won by incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin), the increasing insulation of the West Virginia Democratic Party from the national Democratic Party (particularly on social issues, such as abortion), and a strong year for the Democratic Party nationally, in which they gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Following the state's 2018 Senate elections, Republicans maintained control of the Senate with 20 seats to the Democrats' 14.
Retirements No incumbents retired in 2018. All 17 incumbent senators ran for re-election.
Incumbents defeated In primary elections Three incumbents were defeated in the May primaries, one more than were defeated in the 2016 primaries.
Republicans District 4: Mark Drennan lost renomination to Eric Tarr. District 9: Lynne Arvon lost renomination to Rollan Roberts. District 11: Robert Karnes lost renomination to Bill Hamilton.
In the general election Republicans District 1: Ryan Ferns lost to William J. Ihlenfeld. District 8: Ed Gaunch lost to Richard Lindsay.
Results summary
All results are certified by the Secretary of State of West Virginia.
+Results Party Votes Seats Votes % Totalbefore Up Won Totalafter ± Republican Party 306,182 53.41 22 11 9 2 Democratic Party 267,073 44.05 12 6 8 2 Independents 14,567 2.54 0 0 0
Predictions SourceRankingAs of Governing | October 8, 2018
Senate president election On January 9, 2019, the West Virginia Senate convened to elect a President for the 84th West Virginia Legislature. The incumbent president, Mitch Carmichael, was nominated by Randy Smith. The nomination was then seconded by Charles Trump. Roman Prezioso received a nomination from Bob Beach, which was seconded by Ron Stollings. In a 19 to 14 vote, Mitch Carmichael was re-elected president of the Senate, having received the support of the eighteen other Republicans present, as well as Senator Prezioso. Mike Maroney, a Republican, was the sole absent member.
+Senate presidential election by memberDistrictMemberVoteDistrict 3District 10District 13District 15District 3District 11District 4District 2District 9District 12District 11District 1District 8District 8District 10District 6District 7District 17District 5District 13District 9District 12District 16District 14District 7District 6District 14District 17District 4District 15District 16District 1District 5
Close races
District Winner Margin District 8 Democratic (flip) 0.5% District 16 Democratic 4.3% District 13 Democratic 4.4% District 17 Republican 5.0% District 1 Democratic (flip) 5.8% District 10 Democratic 6.3% District 9 Republican 8.1% District 12 Democratic 9.0%
Summary of results by state senate district +DistrictIncumbentElected senatorResultMemberPartyFirst electedMemberPartyDistrict 1Republican2014DemocraticDemocratic gainDistrict 2Republican2017 (appointed)RepublicanRepublican holdDistrict 3Republican2016RepublicanRepublican holdDistrict 4Republican2017 (appointed)RepublicanRepublican holdDistrict 5Democratic2014DemocraticDemocratic holdDistrict 6Republican2014RepublicanRepublican holdDistrict 7Democratic2006DemocraticDemocratic holdDistrict 8Republican2014DemocraticDemocratic gainDistrict 9Republican2018 (appointed)RepublicanRepublican holdDistrict 10Democratic2017 (appointed)DemocraticDemocratic holdDistrict 11Republican2014RepublicanRepublican holdDistrict 12 Democratic2014DemocraticDemocratic holdDistrict 13 Democratic2010DemocraticDemocratic holdDistrict 14 Republican2006RepublicanRepublican holdDistrict 15Republican2014RepublicanRepublican holdDistrict 16Democratic1998DemocraticDemocratic holdDistrict 17Republican2014RepublicanRepublican hold
Detailed results by state senate district
District 1 • District 2 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 7 • District 8 • District 9 • District 10 • District 11 • District 12 • District 13 • District 14 • District 15 • District 16 • District 17__NOTOC__
All results are certified by the Secretary of State of West Virginia.
District 1
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 2
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 3
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 4
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 5
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 6
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 7
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 8
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 9
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 10
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 11
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 12
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 13
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 14
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 15
Republican primary
General election
District 16
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 17
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
References