2000 West Virginia gubernatorial election

The 2000 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Republican Governor Cecil Underwood ran for re-election to a second consecutive term in office, but was defeated by Democratic U.S. Representative Bob Wise. Concurrently, the state voted for the opposite party federally, choosing Republican nominee, George W. Bush over Democratic nominee Al Gore in the presidential election that year.

2000 West Virginia gubernatorial election

November 7, 2000

Nominee Bob Wise Cecil Underwood Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 324,822 305,926 Percentage 50.1% 47.2%

County results Wise:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Underwood:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Governor before election Cecil Underwood Republican Elected Governor Bob Wise Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Jim Lees, attorney
• Bob Wise, U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Wise	174,292	63.1
	Democratic	Jim Lees	101,774	36.9
Total votes			275,976	100

Republican primary

Governor Cecil Underwood was easily re-nominated in the Republican primary, defeating three other candidates by a wide margin.

Results

Republican primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cecil Underwood (incumbent)	87,190	80.9
	Republican	Joseph Oliverio	11,590	10.8
	Republican	Donna H. McCase	5,902	4.5
	Republican	Larry Eugene Butcher	3,117	2.9
Total votes			107,799	100

General election

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 18, 2000

Results

West Virginia gubernatorial election, 2000[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bob Wise	324,822	50.12%	+4.32%
	Republican	Cecil Underwood (incumbent)	305,926	47.21%	-4.42%
	Mountain	Denise Giardina	10,416	1.61%	+1.61%
	Libertarian	Bob Myers	5,548	0.86%	-1.71%
	Natural Law	Randall Ashelman	1,301	0.20%	+0.20%
	Write-ins		34	0.01%
Margin of victory			18,896	2.92%	-2.91%
Total votes			648,047	100%
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

References

1. "2000 Primary Election: Governor" (PDF). West Virginia Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016.
2. http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/

See also