By Phil Kabler
The Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When the dust settled from the 2014 general election, the state Senate found itself deadlocked for only the third time in state history, with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans.
That 17-17 deadlock lasted just one day, before Democrat Daniel Hall flipped parties to give Republicans an 18-16 majority and control of both houses of the Legislature for the first time in 83 years.
For both parties, the Nov. 8 general election is critical to determine who will control the Senate going into the 2017 regular session, with Republicans hoping to add at least two seats, and Democrats trying to flip the Senate back in their favor.
Speaking on background, Democrat and Republican party leaders outlined what they see as some of the key Senate showdowns:
2nd District: A tight race is projected for the seat Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, gave up to run for governor.
The race pits Republican Mike Maroney, a Glen Dale radiologist, against Democrat Lisa Zukoff, a small business owner in Moundsville.
Republicans are encouraged that Maroney has strong ties to Wetzel County, which has been a Democratic stronghold in the district in the past.
A wild card in the race could come in the form of H. John Rogers, longtime political columnist/gadfly, running as a Libertarian. Democrats are concerned that Rogers could take enough votes away from Zukoff to swing the race.
4th District: If he wins and Republicans hold the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, would be a front-runner for Senate president. However, those are two big ifs, with Carmichael facing the campaign of his life, with attacks coming from both the right and left.
Carmichael is under fire from conservatives for helping defeat the Religious Freedom Restoration Act during the regular session, and from labor for his support of right-to-work and repeal of prevailing wage.
The latter includes more than $550,000 of ad buys in support of Democratic challenger Brian Prim, a trial lawyer from Putnam County, by pro-labor West Virginia Family Values, a group that ran attack ads in the primary citing Carmichael’s testimony as a character witness for a Jackson County man convicted of child sexual abuse.
6th District: Democrats say this race wasn’t on their radar until video of immigrant workers on a Swope Construction site surfaced during the summer and is now airing in a Jim Justice for governor campaign ad.
Republican Chandler Swope, Sen. Bill Cole’s hand-picked successor for the seat he is vacating to run for governor, is the retired co-founder of Swope Construction.
The 6th District, running along the bottom of the state from Wayne to Mercer counties, is strong Donald Trump country, and Democrats hope the Swope video plays at odds with Trump’s pledge to close U.S. borders to illegal immigrants.
Otherwise, Swope has a sizeable campaign funding edge over Democrat Rocky Seay, a Princeton lawyer and small businessman.
8th District: incumbent Sen. Chris Walters, R-Putnam, faces a formidable challenge from Putnam County contractor and businessman Glenn Jeffries. Not only is Jeffries outspending Walters by a 3-to-1 margin, Walters is also targeted by West Virginia Family Values for his right-to-work and prevailing wage votes.
Democrats see the 8th as a clear pick-up, citing a “fantastic” campaign by Jeffries, while Republicans are calling the race a toss-up at best.
9th District: Incumbent Sue Cline, R-Wyoming, was appointed to replace Hall, the senator who flipped from Democrat to Republican, who resigned to become an NRA lobbyist.
Challenger Mike Goode is a long-time Wyoming County clerk, and for Goode, the race may depend on whether he can ride Justice’s coattails in Raleigh County, where he needs to pick up votes.
11th District: The race pits Delegate Denise Campbell, D-Randolph, against Sen. Greg Boso, R-Nicholas, who was appointed to fill the vacancy when Clark Barnes resigned to become Senate clerk.
Democrats are confident about Campbell’s personability and grassroots campaigning. She also has West Virginia Family Values backing.
14th District: Incumbent Sen. Bob Williams, D-Taylor, faces a tough challenge from Delegate Randy Smith, who moved from Preston County to Tucker County to run in a district that is normally a Republican stronghold.
16th District: A rematch of the 2014 67th Delegate District race that Delegate Stephen Skinner, D-Jefferson, won by 133 votes.
This time, Skinner has a significant funding edge and support of West Virginia Family Values, while Republican Patricia Rucker is regarded as an ideal grassroots campaigner.
As a senatorial district, the 16th has consistently elected Democrats, with retiring Sen. Herb Snyder and Sen. John Unger winning re-election in years that were otherwise lean for Democrats.
17th District: After running unopposed in 2012 and facing token opposition in 2008, Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, has a real challenger in Delegate Chris Stansbury, R-Kanawha, an optometrist elected to his first legislative term in 2014.
Palumbo has a major advantage in campaign funding, strong campaign ads and the Palumbo name has been a respected one in Kanawha County politics for decades. Both sides agree a Stansbury win would be a significant upset.
Reach Phil Kabler at [email protected], 304-348-1220 or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.
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