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 County results Rockefeller: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Wolfe: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The2008 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 4. Incumbent senatorJay Rockefeller won re-election to a fifth term in a landslide, defeatingRepublicanJay Wolfe who had returned from the 2002 Senate election by a 27-point margin. Despite this overwhelming win, this remains the last time that a Democrat has won West Virginia's Class 2 U.S. Senate seat. In both of the two subsequent elections for the seat, Republicans have swept every single county.
Before the2000 presidential election,West Virginia had been won by theDemocratic nominee every time since 1932 except for the Republican landslides of1956,1972, and1984. In 2000, thenRepublican governorGeorge W. Bush ofTexas won West Virginia's fiveelectoral college votes over thenVice PresidentAl Gore ofTennessee by a margin of 52–46. Also in the 2000 election, RepublicanShelley Moore Capito, the daughter of formerWest Virginia GovernorArch A. Moore, Jr., won a surprise victory over Democrat Jim Humphreys forWest Virginia's 2nd Congressional District seat to theUnited States House of Representatives. She is the first Republican in West Virginia to hold aCongressional 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 the2004 presidential election overJohn F. Kerry, the DemocraticjuniorSenator fromMassachusetts by a margin of 56–43. BothRepresentativeAlan Mollohan (D-1st District) andRepresentativeNick 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 theWest Virginia Senate and theWest 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. SenatorJohn D. Rockefeller IV easily won a fourth term to the Senate in2002 by a margin of 63–37 over Republican former state senatorJay Wolfe. 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 DemocraticWest Virginia Secretary of StateJoe 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 2005[1]. Wheeling attorney Rob Capehart took his place. (Dr. Doug McKinney of Bridgeport now holds the post.) Another brother of Monty,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.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jay Rockefeller (incumbent) | 271,370 | 77.1% | |
| Democratic | Sheirl Fletcher | 51,073 | 14.5% | |
| Democratic | Billy Hendricks | 29,707 | 8.4% | |
| Total votes | 352,150 | 100.0% | ||
Wolfe was unopposed for the Republican nomination.
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[1] | Safe D | October 23, 2008 |
| CQ Politics[2] | Safe D | October 31, 2008 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[3] | Safe D | November 2, 2008 |
| Real Clear Politics[4] | Safe D | November 4, 2008 |
| Poll Source | Dates administered | Jay Rockefeller (D) | Jay Wolfe (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmussen Reports[5] | September 24, 2008 | 61% | 33% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jay Rockefeller (incumbent) | 447,560 | 63.74% | +0.63% | |
| Republican | Jay Wolfe | 254,629 | 36.26% | −0.63% | |
| Total votes | 702,189 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
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