West Virginia State Senate District 1

West Virginia State Senate District 1 is represented by Owens Brown (D) and Ryan Weld (R).

As of the 2020 Census, West Virginia state senators represented an average of 52,756 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 54,499 residents.

About the office[edit]

Members of the West Virginia State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. West Virginia legislators assume office the first day of December following the election.

Qualifications[edit]

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Section 12 of Article 6 of the West Virginia Constitution states, "No person shall be a senator or delegate who has not for one year next preceding his election, been a resident within the district or county from which he is elected; and if a senator or delegate remove from the district or county for which he was elected, his seat shall be thereby vacated."^[1]

Section 4 of Article IV also states senators must be at least 25 years old.

Section 13 of Article 6 of the West Virginia Constitution states, "No person holding any other lucrative office or employment under this state, the United States, or any foreign government; no member of Congress; and no person who is sheriff, constable, or clerk of any court of record, shall be eligible to a seat in the Legislature."

Salaries[edit]

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislators
Salary	Per diem
$20,000/year	$131/day. Set by compensation commission. Unvouchered.

Vacancies[edit]

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the West Virginia State Legislature, the governor must select a replacement to fill the vacant seat.^[2][3]

For vacancies in the House of Delegates, the executive committee of the political party that holds the seat can submit a list of three candidates to the governor. The list must be submitted to the governor within 15 days of the vacancy. The governor must make a selection within five days of receiving the list. If the committee does not submit a list within 15 days, the governor must appoint someone of the same political party as the person who left office. The person that is selected to fill the vacancy serves the remainder of the unfilled term.^[3]

For vacancies in the Senate, a gubernatorial appointment is required if less than two months and two years are left in the vacant senator's term. A temporary gubernatorial appointment is required for any vacancy that has more than two months and two years remaining. The person who is selected by the governor to fill the seat on an interim basis, serves until the next scheduled general election. A special election must be held to determine a permanent replacement. The executive committee of the political party that holds the vacant Senate seat is responsible for making recommendations to the governor on any appointment.^[3]

See sources: West Virginia Const. Art. 4, Sec. 7 and West Virginia Code Ann. §3-10-5

District map[edit]

The map below shows this district's current boundaries, not those enacted as part of the 2020 redistricting cycle.

Redistricting[edit]

2020-2022[edit]

See also: Redistricting in West Virginia after the 2020 census

West Virginia enacted district maps for the Senate and House of Delegates on October 22, 2021.^[4]On September 30, 2021, the House Redistricting Committees released a single-member district map proposal for the West Virginia House of Delegates.^[5] The proposal passed the House on October 13, 2021, in a 79-20 vote and passed the Senate on October 18, 2021, in a 28-5 vote.^[6] On October 5, 2021, the Senate Redistricting Committee released five map proposals for West Virginia's State Senate districts.^[7] On October 11, 2021, the Senate Redistricting Committee voted to recommend Sen. Charles S. Trump IV's (R) 8th proposed senate map to the full Senate.^[8] The Senate approved a map that combined aspects of previous proposals in a 31-2 vote on October 19, 2021. The map, named after Sens. Trump, Tom Takubo (R), Eric Tarr (R) Patricia Rucker (R), and Robert Karnes (R) was approved by the House in a 72-19 vote. Both the House and Senate maps were signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice (R) on October 20, 2021.^[9] These maps take effect for West Virginia's 2022 legislative elections.

On the Senate map, Sen. Trump said, “This amendment I believe reconciles and harmonizes some of the issues that were points of contention. This is the product of conversations and compromises over a long period of time by a great number of people.”^[10]

“There is a faction within the Republican Party that is worried about their reelection when they shouldn’t be. They should worry about how the state works and how to make it work," said Sen. Mike Romano (D).^[11]

How does redistricting in West Virginia work? In West Virginia, congressional and state legislative district boundaries are set by the West Virginia State Legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.^[12]

The West Virginia Constitution requires that state Senate districts be "compact, contiguous, and bounded by county lines where doing so is not otherwise unlawful." There are no such requirements in place for congressional or state House districts.^[12]

Elections[edit]

2022[edit]

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2022

2020[edit]

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2020

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Brandon Evans (Independent)

2018[edit]

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2018

2016[edit]

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the West Virginia State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 10, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was January 30, 2016.

Ryan Weld defeated incumbent Jack Yost in the West Virginia State Senate District 1 general election.^[13][14]

West Virginia State Senate District 1, General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ryan Weld	51.07%	21,191
	Democratic	Jack Yost Incumbent	48.93%	20,303
Total Votes				41,494
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State

Incumbent Jack Yost ran unopposed in the West Virginia State Senate District 1 Democratic primary.^[15][16]

Ryan Weld ran unopposed in the West Virginia State Senate District 1 Republican primary.^[15][16]

2014[edit]

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the office of West Virginia State Senate consisted of a primary election on May 13, 2014. The general election was on November 4, 2014. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was January 25, 2014. Incumbent Rocky Fitzsimmons was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Ryan Ferns was unopposed in the Republican primary. Ferns defeated Fitzsimmons in the general election.^[17][18]

West Virginia State Senate District 1, General Election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ryan Ferns	51.8%	13,762
	Democratic	Rocky Fitzsimmons Incumbent	48.2%	12,821
Total Votes				26,583

2012[edit]

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the office of West Virginia State Senate consisted of a primary election on May 8, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. Democratic incumbent Jack Yost defeated Republican Pat McGeehan in the general election. Both candidates were unopposed in the primary elections.^[19][20]

West Virginia State Senate, District 1, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jack Yost Incumbent	56.3%	11,760
	Republican	Pat McGeehan	43.7%	9,146
Total Votes				20,906

2010[edit]

See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office of West Virginia State Senate consisted of a primary election on May 11, 2010, and a general election on November 2, 2010. Democrat Orphy Klempa defeated Republican Charles Schlegel in the general election. Klempa defeated Dan Greathouse in the Democratic primary election. Schlegel defeated Patrick McGeehan and Larry Tighe in the Republican primary election.^[21][22]

Klempa resigned December 10, 2012. Rocky Fitzsimmons was appointed to fill the vacancy.^[23]

West Virginia State Senate, District 1, General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Orphy Klempa	58.6%	17,179
	Republican	Charles Schlegel	41.4%	12,137
Total Votes				29,316

West Virginia State Senate District 1 Democratic Primary, 2010
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Orphy Klempa	53.4%	6,838
Dan Greathouse	46.6%	5,960
Total Votes		12,798

West Virginia State Senate District 1 Republican Primary, 2010
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Charles Schlegel	44.5%	2,571
Patrick McGeehan	43.5%	2,515
Larry Tighe	12.1%	698
Total Votes		5,784

Campaign contributions[edit]

From 2000 to 2018, candidates for West Virginia State Senate District 1 raised a total of $2,620,928. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $109,205 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, West Virginia State Senate District 1
Year	Amount	Candidates	Average
2018	$553,846	2	$276,923
2016	$190,210	2	$95,105
2014	$820,577	2	$410,289
2012	$128,195	2	$64,098
2010	$206,925	3	$68,975
2008	$236,160	3	$78,720
2006	$126,718	3	$42,239
2004	$166,810	4	$41,703
2002	$74,843	1	$74,843
2000	$116,644	2	$58,322
Total	$2,620,928	24	$109,205

See also[edit]

• West Virginia State Legislature
• West Virginia State Senate
• West Virginia House of Representatives

External links[edit]

• West Virginia State Legislature

Footnotes[edit]

	v • e State of West Virginia Charleston (capital)
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