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2020 West Virginia gubernatorial election

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For related races, see 2020 United States gubernatorial elections.

2020 West Virginia gubernatorial election
← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →
 
Nominee Jim Justice Ben Salango
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 497,944 237,024
Percentage 63.49% 30.22%
Justice:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Salango:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Governor before election

Jim Justice
Republican

Elected Governor

Jim Justice
Republican

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The 2020 West Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the governor of West Virginia, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Governor Jim Justice announced his 2020 re-election campaign on January 7, 2019.[1] Justice was elected in 2016 as a Democrat, but later switched back to the Republican Party at a campaign rally with Donald Trump.[2] Justice won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic Kanawha County commissioner Ben Salango. Justice's re-election made him the first Republican to be elected governor of West Virginia since Cecil Underwood in 1996. Additionally, Justice became the first incumbent Republican governor to win re-election since Arch A. Moore Jr. in 1972, as well as the first Republican to carry all counties in West Virginia. However, Justice performed worse than Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who outperformed Justice by 5.13 percentage points. Additionally, Salango slightly outperformed Biden by 0.53 percentage points. Justice's 33% margin is the largest margin for a Republican in West Virginia history[3]

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Nominee

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Eliminated in primary

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  • Shelby Jean Fitzhugh, retiree[5]
  • Michael Folk, former state delegate[6]
  • Brooke Lunsford, insurance agent[7]
  • Chuck Sheedy, U.S. Army veteran[8]
  • Doug Six, surveyor[7]
  • Woody Thrasher, former West Virginia Secretary of Commerce (2017–2018)[9]

Declined

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Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Jim
Justice 		Mike
Folk 		Woody
Thrasher 		Other /
Undecided
Triton Polling & Research/WMOV[12] May 18–26, 2020 719 (LV) ± 3.7% 53% 15% 14% 18%[b]
WPA Intelligence (R)[13][A] December 16–18, 2019 502 (LV) ± 4.4% 38% 6% 30% 26%'
Research America Inc.[14] December 4–9, 2019 229 (LV) – 56% 11% 21% 12%
Public Opinion Strategies (R)[15] August 24–25, 2019 –[c] – 56% – 26% 18%
Research America Inc.[16] August 14–22, 2019 216 (LV) – 53% 12% 19% 17%'
WPA Intelligence[17][B] August 13–14, 2019 509 (V) – 38% 11% 23% 28%
WPA Intelligence[17][C] March 7–10, 2019 509 (V) – 58% 5% 5% 32%

Results

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Results by county:
  Justice
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Folk
  •   40–50%
Republican primary results [18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jim Justice (incumbent) 133,258 62.70%
Republican Woody Thrasher 38,898 18.30%
Republican Michael Folk 26,735 12.58%
Republican Doug Six 4,429 2.08%
Republican Brooke Lunsford 3,849 1.81%
Republican Shelly Jean Fitzhugh 2,799 1.32%
Republican Chuck Sheedy 2,552 1.20%
Total votes 212,520 100.00%

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Nominee

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Eliminated in primary

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Declined

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Endorsements

[edit]
Ben Salango

Federal politicians

Individuals

Organizations

Newspapers

Stephen Smith

Federal politicians

Organizations

Ron Stollings

State legislators

Polling

[edit]
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Ben
Salango 		Stephen
Smith 		Ron
Stollings 		Other /
Undecided
Triton Polling & Research/WMOV[35] May 18–26, 2020 231 (LV) ± 6.4% 30% 27% 10% 33%[d]
Research America/MetroNews[36] December 4–10, 2019 220 (LV) ± 4.4% 18% 21% 19% 46%[e]

Results

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Results by county:
Salango
  •   Salango—60–70%
  •   Salango—50–60%
  •   Salango—40–50%
  •   Salango—30–40%
Smith
  •   Smith—30–40%
  •   Smith—40–50%
  •   Smith—50–60%
Stollings
  •   Stollings—50–60%
  •   Stollings—70–80%
Murphy
  •   Murphy—30–40%
  •   Murphy—40–50%
Democratic primary results[37]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ben Salango 74,805 38.68%
Democratic Stephen Smith 65,544 33.89%
Democratic Ron Stollings 25,782 13.33%
Democratic Jody Murphy 18,039 9.33%
Democratic Douglas Hughes 9,231 4.77%
Total votes 193,401 100.00%

Other candidates

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Mountain Party

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The Mountain Party received over 5% of the vote in 2016 with former State Senator and Delegate Charlotte Pritt as the party's gubernatorial nominee. The party nominates its candidate for governor by convention per its bylaws.[38]

Nominee

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  • Daniel Lutz, Eastern Panhandle Conservation District Supervisor representing Jefferson County, and commissioned U.S. Air Force veteran[39]

Endorsements

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Daniel Lutz

Organizations

  • Eastern Panhandle Green Coalition, environmental organization[40]
  • Jefferson County Vision, sustainability organization[40]

Libertarian Party

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Nominee

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  • Erika Kolenich, trial attorney[8]

Write-ins

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The following candidates were certified write-in candidates.[41]

Declared

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  • Quintin Gerard Caldwell
  • Michael Folk, former State Delegate (sought the nomination of the Republican Party)
  • Kimberly Gross
  • Mitch Roberts
  • Marshall Wilson, State Delegate (Independent)[42]

General election

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Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[43] Safe R October 23, 2020
Inside Elections[44] Safe R October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[45] Likely R November 2, 2020
Politico[46] Likely R November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[47] Safe R October 28, 2020
RCP[48] Safe R November 2, 2020
270towin[49] Likely R November 2, 2020

Endorsements

[edit]
Ben Salango (D)

Federal politicians

Individuals

Organizations

Newspapers

Polling

[edit]
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Jim
Justice (R) 		Ben
Salango (D) 		Daniel
Lutz (M) 		Erika
Kolenich (L) 		Undecided
Triton Polling and Research[52] October 19–21, 2020 544 (LV) ± 4.2% 53% 35% 3% 3% 5%
Research America Inc.[53] October 1–6, 2020 450 (LV) ± 4.6% 53% 34% 2% 5% 6%
Triton Polling & Research[54] September 29–30, 2020[f] 525 (RV) ± 4.3% 48% 38% 4% 4% 6%
Strategies Unlimited[55][D] September 26–30, 2020 600 (LV) ± 4% 46% 40% 5% – 8%
Mark Blankenship Enterprises (R)[56][g] September 10–14, 2020 504 (LV) ± 4.3% 54% 27% 9%[h] 10%
Hypothetical polling

Jim Justice vs. Joe Manchin

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Jim
Justice (R) 		Joe
Manchin (D) 		Other /
Undecided
Research America/MetroNews[57] August 14–22, 2019 501 (RV) ± 4.4% 39% 49% 12%

Results

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West Virginia gubernatorial election, 2020[58][59][60]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jim Justice (incumbent) 497,944 63.49% +21.19%
Democratic Ben Salango 237,024 30.22% −18.87%
Libertarian Erika Kolenich 22,527 2.87% +0.72%
Americans Coming Together S. Marshall Wilson (write-in) 15,120 1.93% N/A
Mountain Daniel Lutz 11,309 1.44% −4.45%
Write-in 363 0.05% N/A
Total votes 784,287 100.00%
Turnout 802,726 63.25%
Registered electors 1,269,219
Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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By congressional district

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Justice won all three congressional districts.[61]

District Justice Salango Representative
1st 64% 30% David McKinley
2nd 59% 33% Alex Mooney
3rd 68% 27% Carol Miller

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ^ Undecided with 12%, Doug Six with 2.0%; Shelby Fitzhugh with 1.8%; Brooke Lunsford with 1.2%; Chuck Sheedy with 0.6%
  3. ^ Not available
  4. ^ Undecided with 29%, Jody Murphy with 2.9%; Douglas Hughes with 1.3%
  5. ^ Undecided with 42%, Cecil Silva with 1.8%; Jody Murphy with 1.4%; Edwin Vanover with 0.5%
  6. ^ Additional data sourced from FiveThirtyEight
  7. ^ Poll sponsored by Justice's campaign.
  8. ^ Split between Danny Lutz (M) and Erika Kolenich (L)

Partisan clients

  1. ^ Poll conducted for Woody Thrasher
  2. ^ Poll sponsored by Woody Thrasher's campaign
  3. ^ Poll sponsored by Woody Thrasher's campaign
  4. ^ Poll sponsored by West Virginia First, which opposed Jim Justice's reelection bid prior to this poll's sampling period.

References

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  1. ^ Brown, Haley (January 7, 2019). "Governor Justice announces 2020 campaign". WVVA. Retrieved January 7, 2019.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "West Virginia Undergoing Political, Generational Change". New York Times. August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  3. ^ https://www.ourcampaigns.com/ContainerHistory.html?ContainerID=294
  4. ^ Zuckerman, Jake (January 7, 2019). "Gov. Jim Justice announces re-election bid". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  5. ^ "Campaign Update: Shelby Jean Fitzhugh on West Virginia's needs". West Virginia Press. February 14, 2020.
  6. ^ "Former Delegate Mike Folk announces run for W.Va. governor". Associated Press. February 5, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Thomas, Alex (January 29, 2020). "Governor, US Senate seats up in this year's election".
  8. ^ a b c "Financial Disclosure - Governor 2020 Election". West Virginia Secretary of State.
  9. ^ Young, Charles (April 16, 2019). "Woody Thrasher to run for governor, hopes to unseat Justice in WV's 2020 election". WV News. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Adams, Steven Allen (December 3, 2018). "Tis the election season again". The Journal. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  11. ^ Kabler, Phil (October 4, 2018). "BRIM adopts statement of support for pending settlements of Mac Warner lawsuits". Charleston Gazette-Mail.
  12. ^ Triton Polling & Research/WMOV
  13. ^ WPA Intelligence (R)
  14. ^ Research America Inc.
  15. ^ Public Opinion Strategies (R)
  16. ^ Research America Inc.
  17. ^ a b WPA Intelligence
  18. ^ "GOVERNOR - REP". Secretary of State of West Virginia. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  19. ^ Morris, Jeff (October 4, 2019). "Kanawha Commissioner Ben Salango to run for governor". WCHS.
  20. ^ "Douglas Hughes, Democratic candidate for W.Va. governor". WCHS - ABC 8. April 3, 2020. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  21. ^ Mistich, David (November 27, 2018). "West Virginia Community Organizer Jumps in 2020 Gubernatorial Race". WV Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  22. ^ Jenkins, Jeff (September 23, 2019). "Stollings to run for governor". WV MetroNews. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  23. ^ Levine, Marianne (September 3, 2019). "Joe Manchin won't run for governor of West Virginia". Politico. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  24. ^ a b WVMetroNews (March 18, 2020). "Manchin endorses Salango in gubernatorial contest". WV MetroNews. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  25. ^ a b "Endorsements | Ben Salango for Governor". Ben Salango. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  26. ^ a b "2020 Primary Election Cope Endorsements". West Virginia AFL-CIO.[permanent dead link‍]
  27. ^ a b "Ben Salango for Governor | West Virginia". Ben Salango. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  28. ^ McElhinny, Brad (September 9, 2019). "Elizabeth Warren pitches an early endorsement for Stephen Smith's campaign for governor". WV MetroNews. "I'm proud to endorse Stephen's bid for governor, and his team's efforts to run candidates up and down the ballot," Warren stated.
  29. ^ "Next Up Endorses Young Progressive Candidates". People for the American Way. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  30. ^ "Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic Announces Election Endorsements, including Stephen Smith for Governor". Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PlannedParenthoodAction.org).
  31. ^ "Join the Bold Progressive Movement!". Progressive Change Campaign Committee (BoldProgressives.org).
  32. ^ "2020 Endorsements". Rise Up West Virginia. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  33. ^ "Join us Sunday for the next WFP Assembly". Working Families Party. January 24, 2020. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  34. ^ Pace, Bailey (March 18, 2020). "Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Stollings, criticizes Manchin for endorsement of opponent during COVID-19 crisis". WVVA. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  35. ^ Triton Polling & Research/WMOV
  36. ^ Research America/MetroNews
  37. ^ "GOVERNOR - DEM". Secretary of State of West Virginia. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  38. ^ "Constitution and Bylaws of the West Virginia Mountain Party". Mountain Party. November 11, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  39. ^ "Mountain Party Nominates Danny Lutz For Governor". Mountain Party. June 20, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  40. ^ a b "2020 General Election Guide" (PDF). Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  41. ^ "List Of Candidates For 11/03/2020 -- GENERAL 2020" (PDF). West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  42. ^ "Delegate Marshall Wilson running for Governor of West Virginia". WDVM-TV. June 12, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  43. ^ "2020 Governor Race Ratings for October 23, 2020". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  44. ^ "2020 Gubernatorial Ratings". insideelections.com. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  45. ^ "2020 Gubernatorial race ratings". Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 2, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  46. ^ "We rated every gubernatorial race in 2020. Here's who we think will win". Politico. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  47. ^ "2020 Governor Race Ratings". Daily Kos. June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  48. ^ "2020 Governor Races". RealClearPolitics. June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  49. ^ "2020 Gubernatorial Elections Map". 270towin.
  50. ^ "Ben Salango hosts Facebook Live with Jennifer Garner to discuss issues in W.Va". WSAZ News. September 17, 2020.
  51. ^ "Ben Salango on Twitter: I am honored to have the endorsement of Cecil Roberts and the @MineWorkers". Twitter.
  52. ^ Triton Polling and Research
  53. ^ Research America Inc.
  54. ^ Triton Polling & Research
  55. ^ Strategies Unlimited
  56. ^ Mark Blankenship Enterprises (R)
  57. ^ Research America/MetroNews
  58. ^ "November 3, 2020 General Election - Official Results". West Virginia State - Clarity Elections. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  59. ^ "Election Night Reporting". results.enr.clarityelections.com. Retrieved December 13, 2020..
  60. ^ "2020 General Election Write-in Candidate Results" (PDF). West Virginia Secretary of State. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  61. ^ "Our Campaigns - WV Governor Race - Nov 03, 2020". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
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Official campaign websites

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