The 2008 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 4. Incumbent

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller won re-election to a fifth term, defeating Republican

Jay Wolfe Jay Wolfe (born April 5, 1955) is an American business owner and former State Senator, and U.S. Senate candidate. Early life, education, and business career Wolfe was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia to Donald and Emogene Moore Wolfe. He gr ...

. , this is the last time that a Democrat has won West Virginia's Class 2 U.S. Senate seat.

Background

Before the 2000 presidential election, West Virginia had been won by the

nominee every time since 1932 except for the Republican landslides of

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. In 2000, then Republican Governor George W. Bush of Texas won West Virginia’s five

electoral college votes The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

over then Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

of Tennessee by a margin of 52-46. Also in the 2000 election, Republican Shelley Moore Capito, the daughter of Former West Virginia Governor Arch A. Moore, Jr., won a surprise victory over Democrat Jim Humphreys for West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District seat to the United States House of Representatives. She is the first Republican in West Virginia to hold a Congressional office for more than one term since her father (1957–1969). Before these two major victories for national and West Virginia Republicans, it was difficult to find a Republican who could mount a formidable campaign against Democrats running for public office in West Virginia. President Bush won West Virginia again in the 2004 presidential election over

John F. Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

, the Democratic junior

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from Massachusetts by a margin of 56-43. Both Representative Alan Mollohan (D-

1st District The Innere Stadt (; Central Bavarian: ''Innare Stod'') is the 1st municipal district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the Inn ...

) and Representative Nick Rahall (D- 3rd District) had more formidable challenges from Republicans when compared to 2000 and 2002. The Republicans had gained seven net seats in both the West Virginia Senate and the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2000 to 2008. However, the Democrats still held 60% of the seats in the Senate and 68% of the seats in the House. Along with continued majorities in the legislature, Democrats had also had other recent victories. Even though both Bush and Capito won their respective offices in 2000, Senator Byrd sailed to an eighth term with 78% of the vote over Republican David Gallaher. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV easily won a fourth term to the Senate in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

by a margin of 63-37 over Republican former state senator

. In 2000, 2002, and 2004, both Representative Mollohan and Representative Rahall were re-elected by much stronger margins than Capito. In 2004, Republican Monty Warner failed to defeat Democratic West Virginia Secretary of State Joe Manchin for governor. After the Republicans failed to win the governor’s race, West Virginia Republican Committee Chairman Kris Warner, the brother of Monty, was put under pressure to resign his post; he did so in May 200

Wheeling attorney Rob Capehart took his place. (Dr. Doug McKinney of Bridgeport now holds the post.) Another brother of Monty, Kasey Warner, Kasey, who was appointed by President Bush in 2001, was removed as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia on August 1, 2005. No explanation has been given for his departure and U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston currently represents the district.

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Jay Rockefeller * Sheirl Fletcher * Billy Hendricks

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

, former State Senator, and nominee in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

Results

Wolfe was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

General election

Candidates

* Jay Rockefeller (D), incumbent U.S. Senator *

(R), former State Senator

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

External links

Elections
from the ''West Virginia Secretary of State''
U.S. Congress candidates for West Virginia
at Project Vote Smart
West Virginia, U.S. Senate
from CQ Politics
West Virginia U.S. Senate
from ''OurCampaigns.com''
West Virginia U.S. Senate race
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions
from OpenSecrets * ''Official campaign websites (Archived)'' *
Jay Rockefeller
Democratic candidate *
Jay Wolfe
Republican candidate {{2008 United States elections

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

West Virginia United States Senate

Background

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Predictions

Polling

Results

See also

References

External links