2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election

The 2011 West Virginia gubernatorial election was a special election held on October 4, 2011 to fill the office of the West Virginia Governor. The office became vacant upon the resignation of Governor Joe Manchin, who was elected to fill the seat of Robert Byrd in the United States Senate in 2010 following Byrd's death. State Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, first in the line of succession, became acting governor in 2010 after Manchin took up the Senate seat. On January 18, 2011, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that a special election for the office of Governor must be held so a new Governor can be in place by November 15, 2011, exactly one year after Manchin resigned.[1] The primary election was held on May 14. Tomblin and Republican Bill Maloney won their respective primaries.[2]

2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election

October 4, 2011

Nominee Earl Ray Tomblin Bill Maloney Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 148,625 140,631 Percentage 49.6% 47.0%

County results Tomblin:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Maloney:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Governor before election Earl Ray Tomblin (acting) Democratic Elected Governor Earl Ray Tomblin Democratic

Tomblin was declared the winner of the election by the Associated Press on October 4, 2011 and was inaugurated on November 13, 2011.[3][4]

Democratic primary

Declared

• Jeff Kessler, Acting President of the West Virginia Senate[5]
• Arne Moltis[6]
• John Perdue, West Virginia State Treasurer[7]
• Natalie Tennant, West Virginia Secretary of State[8]
• Rick Thompson, Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates[9]
• Earl Ray Tomblin, Acting Governor and President of the West Virginia Senate[10]

Declined

• Brooks McCabe, state senator[11]
• Charlotte Pritt, former state senator, nominee for Governor in 1996 and write-in candidate for Governor in 1992[12]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jeff Kessler	Arne Moltis	John Perdue	Natalie Tennant	Rick Thompson	Earl Ray Tomblin	Other/ Undecided
Public Policy Polling	May 11–12, 2011	742	± 3.6%	4%	1%	11%	17%	20%	33%	12%
Public Policy Polling	April 21–24, 2011	590	± 4.0%	5%	1%	17%	16%	15%	32%	14%

Primary results

Democratic primary results by county:

  Kessler—40–50%

  Kessler—60–70%

  Perdue—<40%

  Perdue—40–50%

  Tennant—<40%

  Thompson—40–50%

  Thompson—60–70%

  Tomblin—<40%

  Tomblin—40–50%

  Tomblin—50–60%

  Tomblin—60–70%

  Tomblin—80–90%

Democratic primary results[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Earl Ray Tomblin	51,348	40.4
	Democratic	Rick Thompson	30,631	24.1
	Democratic	Natalie Tennant	22,106	17.4
	Democratic	John Perdue	15,995	12.6
	Democratic	Jeff Kessler	6,665	5.2
	Democratic	Arne Moltis	481	0.4
Total votes			127,111	100

Republican primary

Declared

• Clark Barnes, state senator[14]
• Mitch Carmichael, state delegate[6]
• Ralph William Clark, professor
• Cliff Ellis
• Larry Faircloth, former State Delegate and candidate for Governor in 2004[6]
• Betty Ireland, former West Virginia Secretary of State[15]
• Bill Maloney, businessman
• Mark Sorsaia, Putnam County District Attorney[16]

Declined

• Shelley Moore Capito, U.S. Representative[17]
• Patrick Lane, state delegate[16]
• Jon McBride, retired United States naval officer; former NASA astronaut[18]
• John Raese, businessman and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1984, 2006, and 2010[19]
• Mike Stuart, West Virginia Republican Party chairman[20]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Clark Barnes	Mitch Carmichael	Ralph Clark	Cliff Ellis	Larry Faircloth	Betty Ireland	Bill Maloney	Mark Sorsaia	Other/ Undecided
Public Policy Polling	May 11–12, 2011	314	± 5.5%	8%	4%	1%	0%	6%	31%	32%	4%	14%
Public Policy Polling	April 21–24, 2011	274	± 5.9%	8%	8%	2%	1%	2%	31%	17%	4%	28%

Primary results

Republican primary results[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Maloney	27,871	45.0
	Republican	Betty Ireland	19,027	30.7
	Republican	Clark Barnes	5,891	9.5
	Republican	Mark Sorsaia	3,177	5.1
	Republican	Larry Faircloth	2,400	3.9
	Republican	Mitch Carmichael	2,073	3.3
	Republican	Ralph Clark	1,164	1.9
	Republican	Cliff Ellis	283	0.5
Total votes			61,886	100

General election

Candidates

• Bob Henry Baber (Mountain), writer and former Mayor of Richwood[22]
• Rick Bartlett (write-in)[23]
• Harry Bertram (American Third Position Party)[24]
• Phil Hudok (write-in), teacher and registered Constitution Party member[23]
• Marla Dee Ingels (Independent)[24]
• Bill Maloney (Republican), Monongalia County businessman
• Earl Ray Tomblin (Democratic), Acting Governor and President of the West Virginia Senate[10]
• Donald Lee Underwood (write-in)[23]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Earl Ray Tomblin (D)	Bill Maloney (R)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	September 30 – October 2, 2011	932	± 3.2%	47%	46%	7%
Public Policy Polling	September 1–4, 2011	708	± 3.7%	46%	40%	14%
Public Policy Polling	May 11–12, 2011	723	± 3.6%	45%	30%	25%
Public Policy Polling	April 21–24, 2011	850	± 3.4%	56%	23%	21%

Results

West Virginia gubernatorial special election official results, 2011[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Earl Ray Tomblin	149,202	49.55%	-20.26
	Republican	Bill Maloney	141,656	47.05%	+21.32
	Mountain	Bob Henry Baber	6,083	2.02%	-2.44
	Independent	Marla Ingels	2,875	0.95%
	American Third Position	Harry Bertram	1,111	0.37%	+0.37
	Write-in	Phil Hudok	76	0.03%
	Write-in	Donald Lee Underwood	54	0.02%
	Write-in	John R. "Rick" Bartlett	27	0.01%
Margin of victory			7,546	2.51%	-41.57%
Total votes			301,084	100%
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

1. Sobel, Julie (January 18, 2011). "Court Orders West Virginia Special Election This Year". National Journal. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
2. Catanese, David (2011-05-14). "Tomblin, Maloney win in West Virginia - David Catanese". Politico.Com. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
3. "News from The Associated Press". Hosted.ap.org. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
4. Kaull, April. "Earl Ray Tomblin Sworn in as W.Va. Governor - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports". Wowktv.com. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
5. Forbes, Jim (October 28, 2010). "State Sen. Jeff Kessler Eyes W.Va. Governor's Mansion". WTRF-TV. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
6. Mannix Porterfield (February 13, 2011). "14 candidates for W.Va. governor ready to fight for the office". The Register-Herald. Beckley, West Virginia.
7. Dickerson, Chris (October 6, 2010). "Perdue names former Dem chair to head campaign". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
8. King, Joselyn (February 10, 2011). "Tennant Jumps Into Race For Governor". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
9. Dickerson, Chris (November 3, 2010). "Thompson says he'll be on gubernatorial ballot". West Virginia Record. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
10. Knezevich, Alison (January 8, 2011). "W.Va. governor race begins". The Charleston Gazette. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
11. "Brooks McCabe to Run For Governor". WOWK-TV. August 27, 2010. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
12. "Charlotte Pritt says she won't run for governor – Statehouse News – Charleston Daily Mail – West Virginia News and Sports". Dailymail.com. 2011-02-12. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
13. Archived September 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
14. Simmons, Ben (October 5, 2010). "Barnes will seek governor's seat". The Inter-Mountain. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
15. Edwards, Jeremy (December 30, 2010). "Betty Ireland Announces Run for Governor". WSAZ-TV. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
16. "Candidate field for governor grows to 7". Associated Press. February 2, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
17. McVey, John (January 20, 2011). "Capito is pleased with special election decision". The Journal. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
18. Bissett, Jim (January 30, 2011). "Jon McBride says he's not running again". The Dominion Post. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
19. "Raese Not Running". West Virginia MetroNews. February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
20. Mancini, Jess (February 1, 2011). "Stuart not running for governor". The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
21. Archived October 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
22. Jared Hunt (May 3, 2011). "Mountain Party selects gubernatorial candidate". Charleston Daily Mail. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
23. "2011 Write-in Candidates for Governor". Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
24. "2011 Candidates for Governor". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
25. http://apps.sos.wv.gov/elections/results/results.aspx?year=2011&eid=10&county=Statewide

External links

Campaign websites (Archived)

• Earl Ray Tomblin
• Bill Maloney
• Bob Henry Baber
• Phil Hudok
• Marla Ingels
• Jeff Kessler

Information

• Elections Division at the Secretary of State
  • 2011 Gubernatorial Election
• West Virginia Governor Candidates at Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions for 2011 West Virginia Governor from Follow the Money
• West Virginia Governor 2011 from OurCampaigns.com
• 2011 West Virginia Governor - Maloney vs. Tomblin Polling Data from Real Clear Politics