More than 68K West Virginians change political parties over last 2 years, SOS office says

Over the past two years, 68,235 West Virginia voters have changed their party registrations — more than half going from Democrat or unaffiliated to Republican, according to information released by Secretary of State Kris Warner’s office this week.

Since January 2024, 20,003 unaffiliated voters and 16,910 Democrats have switched to the Republican Party, the Secretary of State said in a news release Thursday evening. 

Also, since 2024, according to the Secretary of State: 

• 12,299 West Virginians switched from Democrat to unaffiliated
• 7,559 switched from Republican to unaffiliated
• 5,211 switched from unaffiliated to Democrat 
• 2,399 switched from Republican to Democrat

Chairman of the state Republican Party Del. Josh Holstein, R-Boone, noted that Republicans have had strong trends for years now. He estimates the party gains between 700 and 1,500 people each month while Democrats lose between 300 and 1,000 monthly.

“We’ve been seeing that trend, really since about 2016,” he said. “It accelerated dramatically in 2020 and has really not let up since.”

Between March 31 and April 21 of this year, 6,776 West Virginians joined the Republican party, according to monthly voters’ registration reports by the Secretary of State. In the last seven weeks, he noted, about 10,000 people have joined the Republican Party. 

Holstein attributes the recent increase to the closed primary election. For the first time in several years, only registered Republicans will be able to cast their votes in the Republican primary. 

“This huge uptick in the last couple of months is certainly tied to the primary being closed,” he said. “According to the Secretary of State’s data, we had about two thirds of independents that vote in the primary choose Republican ballots. So we’re looking at about 67% of those folks that are… casting their vote in the primary, choosing our ballots. So I think it’s why a lot of those folks said, ‘Hey, I’ll just register Republican.’”

In a statement Friday, Chairman of the state Democratic Party Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said the numbers show movement across the board, not a one-way shift.

“Thousands of West Virginians are stepping away from party labels entirely, which reflects a broader frustration with politics as usual,” Pushkin wrote. “While Republicans have gained some voters, they are also losing thousands to ‘No Party,’ and many voters who re-engage are continuing to choose Democrats.”

Pushkin said it’s important to note the numbers include all of 2024, when President Donald Trump was running for election. The president won every West Virginia county in 2024. 

“So none of this is particularly surprising,” he said. 

“And when you actually look at the most recent numbers, the narrative of a mass shift just doesn’t hold up,” Pushkin said. 

He said there’s “hardly evidence” of large-scale movement toward the Republican Party, despite “deceptive direct mail tactics,” from the state GOP.

“The reality is that independents and Democrats together make up a clear majority of registered voters in this state.”

According to preliminary April data from the Secretary of State’s office, Democrats and independents together make up about 620,000 people, compared to 519,756 Republicans. 

“The real story here is that voters are still making up their minds, and Democrats are focused on earning their trust by delivering results for working families,” he said. 

As of Thursday, 1,198,019 West Virginians are registered to vote in this year’s primary election, Warner’s office said. 

The deadline to register to vote in the primary was April 21. The primary election is May 12. Early in-person voting begins April 29.