When Tuesday’s votes were counted, Republicans in the state Senate and House of Delegates increased their majority, aligning with the trend of Republican strength in nearly all of West Virginia’s elections.
However, in three Kanawha County districts, Democrats held their ground. Incumbents Mike Pushkin, Kayla Young and Hollis Lewis retained their seats. Young’s race was the closest of the three, with fewer than 300 votes separating Young from her Republican challenger.
Senate
Republican Eric Nelson defeated Democrat Bil Lepp to maintain his place in the state’s District 17 senate seat. According to Kanawha County voting data, Nelson garnered 26,812 votes while Lepp had 14,842.
House of Delegates
District 20: Republican Sarah Drennan earned 6,579 votes, beating Democrat Steve Patrick by 3,975 votes, according to unofficial results from the Putnam County Clerk’s Office.
District 21: There were 8,432 votes in the race between Republican Jarred Cannon and Democrat Michael Mosteller II. Incumbent Cannon kept his seat by acquiring 69% of the vote, or 5,820 votes.
District 52: Republican Tresa Howell earned 3,958 votes, beating Democrat Thomas Jones’s 2,575 votes. Howell’s win flipped the seat currently held by Democrat Larry Rowe, who did not seek reelection.
District 53: Republican Tristan Leavitt received 3,875 votes, and defeated Democrat Chris Smith, who tallied 2,593 votes for the seat vacated by Republican Chris Pritt.
District 54: Incumbent Democrat Mike Pushkin received two-thirds of the vote, with a final count of 4,567 from the Kanawha County Clerk’s unofficial results. He defeated Republican Julien Aklei, who tallied 1,537 votes.
District 55: Democrat Linda Bodie’s bid to replace incumbent Republican JB Akers was unsuccessful, with Akers earning about 60% of the vote (4,894 votes) and Bodie earning 40% (3,287).
District 56: Incumbent Democrat Kayla Young won a close race against Republican Andrew G. Anderson. The vote was split nearly 50/50, with incumbent Young earning 4,149 votes and Anderson earning 3,869. Young declined to comment to the Gazette-Mail on her win. However, West Virginia Watch reporter Amelia Knisely posted on X, “Young said Republicans told her she was their No. 1 target this election.†West Virginia GOP executive director Kyle Saunders declined to respond to Young’s comment.
District 57: Incumbent Democrat Hollis Lewis’s 3,974 votes accounted for 54.78% of the vote over Republican Mark Carter, who earned 3,276 votes.
Four additional incumbent Republicans ran unopposed in Kanawha County’s House of Delegates race:
District 58: Walter Hall
District 59: Andy Shamblin
District 60: Dana Ferrell
District 61: Dean Jeffries
Makeup of the next Legislative cycle
The result of Tuesday’s election is a net loss of three Democratic seats in the state Legislature.
In the current body, the Senate consists of three Democrats and 31 Republicans. With Democrat Ric Griffith’s loss to Republican challenger Scott Fuller in the 5th Senate District race, the Senate will now hold a 32-2 Republican majority in the 2025-26 Legislature. Fuller replaces Sen. Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, who didn’t seek reelection.
Statewide, Democratic House and Senate nominees defended urban strongholds in or near Wheeling, Morgantown and ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä. But after losing two seats (in the 27th and 52nd districts), in the next legislative cycle, Democrats will have only nine members in the 100-member House of Delegates.
After vote count issues in Kanawha County, incumbent Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, won her race against Republican Andrew Anderson. Young said Republicans told her she was their No. 1 target this election.
