Douglas John Skaff Jr. (November 10, 1976June 10, 2025) was an American politician from the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. Skaff served as a member of the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature in West Virginia. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular se ...

, most recently representing the 57th district, as a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Skaff was born on November 10, 1976, in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

. He was raised in South Charleston, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

in 2000, followed by a master's degree in Labor and Industrial Relations, also from

Career

Skaff was first elected to the

in 2008 and served three terms. Skaff opted not to seek re-election to the House of Delegates in 2014, instead running to represent the 17th district in the

West Virginia Senate The West Virginia Senate is the upper house of the West Virginia Legislature. There are seventeen senatorial districts. Each district has two senators who serve staggered four-year terms. Although the West Virginia Democratic Party, Democratic P ...

. He was defeated by Republican Tom Takubo, and succeeded in the House of Delegates by Andrew Byrd. In October 2014, Skaff was arrested for

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

of alcohol while in Morgantown to attend a

West Virginia Mountaineers football The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University (WVU) in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. West Virginia plays its home games at Milan Puskar Stadium on the campus of West V ...

game. In 2015, Skaff was placed on the statewide casino ban list after pleading no contest to cheating while playing blackjack at

the Greenbrier The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States. Since 1778, visitors have traveled to this part of the state to "take the waters" of t ...

resort. In the 2018 election, Skaff was re-elected to his old seat in the House of Delegates. In 2020, Skaff became president of HD Media. On September 8, 2023, Skaff resigned from the House of Delegates. On October 12, Skaff switched to the Republican Party and filed to run for

Secretary of State of West Virginia The secretary of state of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. He was replaced in the legislature by Hollis Lewis.

Death

Skaff died in a vehicle crash on

Interstate 79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare t ...

Lewis County, West Virginia Lewis County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,033. Its county seat is Weston. The county was formed in 1816 from Harrison County and named for Col. Charles Lewis (1733–1774), a Vi ...

, on June 10, 2025. He was 48.

References

1976 births 2025 deaths Democratic Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates People from Wood County, West Virginia West Virginia University alumni Candidates in the 2024 United States elections 21st-century members of the West Virginia Legislature Road incident deaths in West Virginia {{WestVirginia-politician-stub