West Virginia Watch

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) speaks during a news conference about preserving Medicaid funding during the "fiscal cliff" negotiations at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill December 11, 2012 in Washington, DC. The legislators were joined by representatives from major unions and policy organizations in calling on the White House and Congressional negotiators to protect funding for Medicaid, a health program for people and families with low incomes and resources. (Photo by Chip Somo

Democrats Regina Dyer (from left to right), Jenny Thacker and Lucia Valentine beat out Republican House of Delegate incumbents Del. Wayne Clark, Del. Chris Anders and Del. Bill Ridenour on Tuesday. The three women will head to Charleston in January for their first legislative session to represent Jefferson County, West Virginia. (Submitted photos)There are swing counties.  And then there’s Jefferson County.  At least that’s what a Republican friend once remarked to John Doyle, a former Jefferson

A workman paints a door at a house under contract in Nanuet, N.Y. New York was ranked last and Indiana first among states for affordability and home building by a realtors.com report this year. (Photo by Tim Henderson/Stateline)The age of the typical first-time homebuyer last year remained stuck at a historic high of 40 years old as younger people continue to get the worst of brutally high prices and interest rates in much of the country. That’s according to new data from the National Associatio

Eleven thousand children are enrolled in West Virginia’s childcare assistance program, available to parents who are working or enrolled in school. (Photo by Rebecca Rivas/Missouri Independent)A program used by thousands of working parents in West Virginia to pay for childcare could see changes next year. The state pays for the childcare subsidy program through federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families dollars, an anti-poverty program under scrutiny by Gov. Patrick Morrisey. Other federal d

Regular unleaded gas is $4.159 per gallon at the ParMar Store at 1503 Washington Street E in Charleston, West Virginia, on Nov. 5, 2026. (Photo by Leann Ray/West Virginia Watch)No matter which party is in power, it’s a common misconception that the president of the United States has a significant impact on the price of gas at the pump. While that’s usually true, we’re living in an inflation crisis that can be pinpointed to the national and international policy of one person: the current presiden

Democratic candidate Mat Anderson won House District 50 Tuesday night, beating out independent candidate Tom Louisos, Constitution Party candidate Stacey L. Hensley and two write-in candidates, Republican William Jennings Vest and independent Eric Walton. (Submitted photo)A Democrat will fill the West Virginia House of Delegates seat formerly held by disgraced former Republican lawmaker Elliott Pritt. Mat Anderson won House District 50 Tuesday night, beating out independent candidate Tom Louisos

Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in Ronceverte, West Virginia, closed its labor and delivery room this spring. Officials announced Thursday it would reopen through an agreement between Vandalia Health and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. (Photo by Chris Jackson for West Virginia Watch)Greenbrier County families will again have access to labor and delivery services through an agreement between Vandalia Health and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, officials announc

U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., speaks at a final rally before the 2026 midterm elections at the Oliver-Dunn Acadome at Alabama State University in Montgomery on Nov. 2, 2026. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)Alabama Republicans had hoped Rep. Shomari Figures would deliver a concession speech on Tuesday night after the state legislature redrew his district to be more GOP-friendly.  Instead, the Democrat declared victory — winning nearly 54% of the vote. “We know what happened with this di

Del. Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)Former Fayette County Del. Elliott Pritt is scheduled to plead guilty next week.  Pritt is scheduled to enter a guilty plea in the U.S. District Court of Southern West Virginia on Nov. 10 at 9 a.m. in Charleston.  Pritt, a member of the House of Delegates and a school teacher, was arrested over the summer after federal investigators say he sexually solicited and assaulted a teenager.  Federal prosecutors

A Star Wars-themed campaign sign opposing Proposition 144 at a Phoenix intersection. Arizona voters defeated Proposition 144, which would have mandated that only citizens could register and vote in Arizona elections. (Photo by Jim Small/Arizona Mirror)Voters in five states approved new citizenship voting requirements on Tuesday while Arizona voters rejected theirs. Proposals to explicitly bar noncitizens from voting were on the ballot this week in six states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, S

After Tuesday's midterm election, 19 women will be in the West Virginia House of Delegates next year. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)Democratic women made strides in West Virginia on Election Day, winning eight seats in the House of Delegates. West Virginia’s Legislature has the fewest number of women lawmakers, with just 12 Republican and Democratic women serving in the House. In 2027, that number will grow to 19. Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, is one of only

Gov. Jim Justice addresses state lawmakers Jan. 8, 2025, for the last time as governor. Justice, a Republican who has spent two terms as the state's chief executive. (Photo by Will Price /West Virginia Legislative Photography)Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., wasn’t on the ballot this election, but the blue tsunami that blew out midterm elections will put him in the minority party in the Senate. Democrats ousted Republicans and seized control of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday night. Republicans’ nearly two

Supporters of Rep.-elect Zach Dembo, a Kentucky Democrat who flipped a Republican seat, cheer during Dembo’s victory speech in Lexington on Nov. 3, 2026. (Photo by Brian Simms for Kentucky Lantern)WASHINGTON — As the monumental midterm victories set in, Democrats began to talk strategy Wednesday on how to deliver what voters want: lower prices, attainable health care and an end to a stagnant and expensive conflict in the Middle East. Starting in January, the party will control bot

Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat who is now senator-elect for Michigan, speaks to Democratic supporters at a unity rally held at Renaissance High School in Detroit on Aug. 7, 2026. (Photo by Ben Solis/Michigan Advance)WASHINGTON — Winners of more than a dozen congressional and gubernatorial races have broken longstanding barriers of race, gender and sexuality.  The results set records for the most Black governors and most women governors, and the first Black woman governor, Georgia’s Keisha Lance

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a press conference at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters on Nov. 4, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders in Congress have just a couple months to decide how they want to balance investigations into President Donald Trump and his administration with securing his signature on major bills to address the cost of living, a top concern for voters. While Democra

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach speaks alongside President Donald Trump at a Nov. 1, 2026, rally in Salina, Kansas. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)Ahead of the midterms, Democrats wargamed dozens of scenarios looking at how President Donald Trump might try to undermine the election, everything from seizing voting machines to falsely declaring a foreign attack. But when the blue tsunami arrived Tuesday night, Trump seemed to let it wash right over him. In a series of late-night inte

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announces a $3.2 million water filtration initiative to deliver clean, dependable drinking water to 5,000 households in McDowell and Mingo counties, in Welch, West Virginia on Nov. 4, 2026. (West Virginia Office of Gov. Patrick Morrisey video screenshot)Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Wednesday the state will be investing $3.2 million into home water filtration systems in Mingo and McDowell counties.  The initiative will cover 5,000 homes that rely on well-water or have no

Vice President JD Vance spoke May 18, 2026, about the importance of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States at the Milbank Manufacturing company in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Morgan Chilson/Kansas Reflector)The fingerpointing is coming from inside the house. Vice President JD Vance said in a lengthy social media post Wednesday that Republicans’ shellacking in the midterm elections the night before was mainly due to the administration’s war in Iran. Though Vance sought to

House Finance Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, speaks about proposed amendments to the Senate’s budget bill on Feb. 25, 2026. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)Ousted House Finance Chair Vernon Criss appears to have handed his delegate seat off to a Democrat after launching a kamikaze-style write-in campaign in the GOP stronghold of Wood County.  Democrat Dennis Rempel, a retired federal employee, defeated Republican nominee Charles Hartzog for the House District 12 rac

The U.S. Capitol on Sept. 15, 2026. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)WASHINGTON — Voting ended Tuesday in this year’s midterm elections, leaving officials and volunteers counting tens of millions of ballots to determine which U.S. House and Senate candidates will take the oath of office in January. The post-election process includes numerous steps and varying deadlines for when ballots have to be certified, since each state has different laws governing not only what happens on Election D