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West Virginia voter registration shows strength with Independents

By JOSELYN KING

The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register

WHEELING, W.Va.  — Shifts in voter registration across West Virginia over the last decade have political insiders pondering whether the Mountain State is truly a “red” state, or if the time is ripe for a third political party to organize in West Virginia.

As Republicans have taken over most elected offices in the state, voter registration totals across West Virginia for the last decade do show a drop in the number of Democratic voters. But a sharp increase in the number of residents filing with no party affiliation almost equals that decline.

Since September 2007, Democrat registrations in West Virginia have dropped from 652,015 to 536,298 as of July 31, according to information compiled by the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office. That equals a decrease of 115,717 in the number of registered Democrats in the state.

The number of non-party voters, meanwhile, has jumped from 144,144 10 years ago, to 259,357. That equals a near-parallel increase of 115,213.

GOP registrations, meanwhile, have increased more modestly — from 346,626 in 2007 to 389,647 a decade later. There are 43,021 more Republicans today than there were 10 years ago.

“We’re getting younger voters today, and I think they feel like they want to be independent rather than believe in just what the Democrats or Republicans believe,”said George Fahey, co-chairman of the Ohio County Democratic Party. “People in both parties are getting frustrated, and we see people dropping out to be an Independent because they can choose what ballot they want to vote.

“The people I’ve talked to feel there is a need for a third party, and that the Republican people and the Democratic people aren’t representing them,” Fahey continued. “Maybe it is time for a third party with the morals and beliefs people once believed in.”

Not surprisingly, Ohio County Republican Party Chairman Matt Chapman disagrees with his Democrat counterpart.

Chapman said he subscribes to the philosophy that a government with more than two political parties can’t be effective, and he noted voters are not casting ballots for third-party candidates they already see on the ballot.

“No, I don’t think there’s a move to a third party,” he said. “Over the years we’ve had so many movements toward a third party, and they’ve failed for a reason. They do not have a good platform, and they don’t offer anything. If a viable third-party option were possible, you would have thought we would have seen it already. If people want a third party, they’re not voting for one.”

He does believe West Virginia has become a “red” state.

“You don’t see those shifts in voter registration unless there is a real problem,” he said. “Unless the Democrats come back to reality and stop promoting policies that are killing West Virginia, they’re done in this state.”

Chapman sees the growth in non-party registrations as the first step in the process of turning West Virginia into a “red” state.

“I think Donald Trump proved they are Republicans,” Chapman said. “They are coming out wholeheartedly for Republicans, and we will bring them into the fold. We just have to get them to register as Republicans, as they are voting Republican.”

Fahey sees the voter registration trends continuing as more out-of-state dollars come into West Virginia supporting GOP candidates, and the overall cost of campaigns is discouraging good Democratic candidates.

“Yes, I do see West Virginia becoming a red state … ,” Fahey said. “And we will see more people registering as Independents, and the numbers drop in the other parties. It’s their way of saying they are voting for the person, and not the party. They have no one to even represent them, yet the numbers are getting larger for them.”

See more from The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register

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