The2016 West Virginia Senate elections were held on November 8, 2016, as part of the biennial United States elections. Seventeen of West Virginia's 34 state senators were up for regular selection, along with an unexpired term for another seat.West Virginia Senate districts each have two elected representatives. State senators serve staggered four-year terms in West Virginia, with one senator from each district up in even-numbered years corresponding to presidential election years (such as 2016), and the other up in even-numbered years corresponding to presidential midterm years.
Primary elections in the state were held on May 10. After the previous 2014 state elections, Republicans held a slim majority in the Senate, holding 18 seats to the Democrats' 16. The Republican Party had long been the minority party in West Virginia, but the decline of the strength of coal worker unions, the Democratic Party's increasing focus on environmentalism, the unpopularity of PresidentBarack Obama, and the increasingsocial conservatism of theRepublican Party have helped the GOP solidify power in the state rapidly since 2000.
The high popularity of candidateDonald Trump within the state and his 42-point margin of victory, helped the Republicans gain four seats. This can be attributed to the increasing association of theWest Virginia Democratic Party with the nationalDemocratic Party, and a strong year for theRepublican Party nationally, in which they gained control of thepresidency, and kept control of theU.S. House of Representatives andU.S. Senate. Donald Trump won West Virginia with 68.5% of the vote, his largest share of the vote in any state. Trump's performance helped Republican Senate candidates down-ballot, as he won every senate district in the state.[1]
Following the state's 2016 Senate elections, Republicans maintained and increased their control of the Senate with 22 seats to the Democrats' 12.
Two incumbents were defeated in the May 10 primaries. SenatorBob Ashley was appointed to the3rd Senate District and was the incumbent for the remainder of the unexpired term. However, Ashley chose to challenge fellow incumbent senatorDonna Boley for a full term.
In 2016, both seats were up for election due to an unusual series of events.RepublicanBob Ashley, who had been appointed to the Senate following the departure ofDavid Nohe in 2015, chose to run in a primary against his fellow senatorDonna Boley, leaving his own seat open and triggering a special election.[7]
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