Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump watches as a protester is removed from a campaign stop at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass., on Monday.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has a higher level of support in West Virginia than in any other state, according to a recent New York Times analysis of data provided by Civis Analytics, a Chicago-based firm.
Trump’s support ranges from a high of 45 percent in West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District (a region that stretches from Parkersburg to Morgantown and Wheeling) to 41 percent in the 2nd Congressional District (the Kanawha Valley to the Eastern Panhandle) to 36 percent in the 3rd District (Southern West Virginia), the research shows.
West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Conrad Lucas said it’s no surprise that West Virginians would favor Trump.
“He’s not a traditional politician,” Lucas said. “West Virginia has been harmed greatly by Barack Obama and politics as usual in West Virginia. Mr. Trump certainly offers a different perspective, and it’s resonating well.”
The data reflect that Trump’s strongest support comes from states like West Virginia, where registered Democrats identify themselves as Republican “leaners”…
