Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, speaks to reporters on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, after being nominated by fellow Republicans to be the next West Virginia Senate president.
Randy Smith, coal miner turned politician, nominated as next WV Senate president
He will succeed Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley. Smith said he “beat all odds†to secure the nomination following a three-hour deliberation.
Sen. Randy Smith said he had 10 grandkids waiting to hear the news about their pappy.
On Sunday evening, after three hours of deliberation and two rounds of voting, he’d been nominated as the next West Virginia Senate president by his Republican colleagues.
Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, speaks to reporters on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, after being nominated by fellow Republicans to be the next West Virginia Senate president.
AMELIA FERRELL KNISELY | West Virginia Watch
He described himself, minutes after the vote, as “shocked, overwhelmed, humbled.â€
“I’m not your typical Senate president type ... I’ve been a blue-collar working class,†said Smith, 64, a former coal miner who chairs the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee.
“I just give God all the glory … and evidently God wanted me in this house and in this position, or I wouldn’t be here tonight.â€
A coal miner first
Smith, R-Tucker, was first elected to the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms in the House of Delegates.
Before politics, he spent more than two decades working as section foreman at a mine. “I think that has gave me the confidence in my leadership skills,†he said.
The Senate president vote occurred in a closed-door meeting on the Senate floor, so it’s unknown which Republicans voted for Smith or how many votes he received. Ahead of the vote, the race had narrowed to Smith and two other candidates: Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam and Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha.
Smith said he “beat all odds†to win the race for the top position. In West Virginia, the Senate president also serves as the lieutenant governor.
“I didn’t have any super PACs, no money ... I had heavy hitting lobbyist groups that were, you know, working against me. You know that they don’t want to see me there, because they know I can’t be bought,†he said.
Smith hasn’t yet named committee leaders but noted that he didn’t promise his fellow GOP Senators anything in order to secure the Senate president appointment. He said that, while it had been a difficult few weeks of politics leading up to the vote, he still considered Tarr and Takubo friends.
“Even tonight, they were the first to congratulate me,†he said.
Smith will succeed Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, who lost reelection in the May primary to Tom Willis. Blair has served as Senate president since 2021.
Smith described himself as conservative and said that West Virginia’s overwhelming support of Republicans in the November election spoke for the kinds of policies they’d like to see passed in the Senate.
He has his own ideas of things he’d like to see prioritized, like supporting small businesses, continuing Gov. Jim Justice’s focus on fixing roads and improving the state’s broadband infrastructure. But, Smith said, caucus priorities will guide his Senate.
“All of us represent a district, and everyone will be free to vote what’s for their district or what their moral values are, and there’ll never be any repercussions from me,†he said. “It’ll be determined by the body, you know, if we have 18 votes, it’ll run, and it’ll pass. Some things I’ll vote against, because I don’t believe in it.â€
In 2022, Smith made national headlines after he announced legislation that would have offered vasectomies or tubal ligations to anyone convicted of a drug-related crime in exchange for shorter prison time.
No change in leadership of GOP-controlled House
West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, is shown in the House Chamber on March 13, 2023.
PERRY BENNETT | West Virginia Legislative Photography
Republicans in the House of Delegates also had their closed-door caucus vote on Sunday, opting to keep Roger Hanshaw in his role as House speaker. He was unopposed. Hanshaw, R-Clay, began serving in the role in 2018 and has been in the Legislature since 2014. He is an attorney.
The House and Senate GOP caucuses will present their nominees for a vote by the full chambers on Jan. 8. Newly-elected members — 14 in the House and seven in the Senate — will be sworn in on that same day.
House Democrats will keep Delegate Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, as minority leader after first electing him to the position in 2023. Hornbuckle, a financial advisor and basketball coach, has been a member of the House since 2014. There will be nine Democrats in the House in 2025, down from the current 11 following November election results.
The Senate will have just two Democrats next year with Majority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, continuing his current term. Senator-elect Joey Garcia will replace long-time lawmaker Mike Caputo, D-Marion, who is retiring.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
