The West Virginia Democratic Party is the affiliate of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

History

The state of West Virginia granted itself statehood after its people, through a state constitutional convention, became a free state and broke away from the slave holding state of Virginia in 1861 during the first year of the Civil War. Article IV of the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

requires consent of the newly formed state, the original state, and Congress. Since the Virginian government was ruled illegitimate as it was a member of the Confederate States of America, no approval was required and after Congressional consent, self-statehood was gained and political party formation prospered. The West Virginia Democratic Party was started as a coalition of conservative Pro-Union Democrats, Pro-Confederate Democrats, and former members of the Whig Party. After 1872, its political dominance flourished when restrictions that disenfranchised former Confederates were struck from the state constitution.

West Virginia Democrats in government

The West Virginia Democratic Party controls zero statewide executive office and holds minorities in both the West Virginia House of Delegates and the West Virginia Senate. Democrats hold one of the state's two U.S. Senate seats and none of the state's three U.S. House seats. Incumbent

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jim Justice James Conley Justice II (born April 27, 1951) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 36th governor of West Virginia since 2017. Justice had a net worth of $1.2 billion in September 2018, making him the wealthiest person ...

was elected as a Democrat in the 2016 election, however switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in August 2017, seven months after taking office.

Federal

File:Senator Manchin (cropped 2).jpg, Senior U.S. Senator

Judicial (
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 t ...
)

* Justice John A. Hutchison * Justice

William R. Wooton William R. Wooton (born September 20, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who has served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia since January 1, 2021. Education Wooton received his Bachelor of Arts in business ma ...

Democratic electorate

Democratic and Republican parties have dominated the American political scene for close to two centuries. In West Virginia, the Republican Union-supporting party held political power in the state from 1863 to 1872. The Democrats took power in the 1872 elections and held it until 1896. Republicans once again had control in 1896 until 1932. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, The Democratic Party began its dominance that lasted until 2014.

Democratic dominance in West Virginia in the 1900s

From 1930 to 2014, Democrats held majorities in both chambers of the

West Virginia Legislature The West Virginia Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of West Virginia. A bicameral legislative body, the legislature is split between the upper Senate and the lower House of Delegates. It was established under Article VI o ...

Today's party organization

The party organization is governed by the West Virginia State Democratic Executive Committee. This committee comprises its leadership. The chair is Delegate Mike Pushkin and the vice chairwoman is Delegate Danielle Walker.

Notes

External links

* {{U.S. Democratic Party state parties Democratic Party (United States) by state