2020 United States Senate election in West Virginia

The 2020 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of West Virginia, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

2020 United States Senate election in West Virginia

November 3, 2020

Nominee Shelley Moore Capito Paula Jean Swearengin Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 547,454 210,309 Percentage 70.3% 27.0%

County Results Moore Capito:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. senator before election Shelley Moore Capito Republican Elected U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito Republican

Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito won a second term against Democrat Paula Jean Swearengin by a margin of 43.3%.

Republican primary

Nominee

• Shelley Moore Capito, incumbent U.S. Senator

Eliminated in primary

• Larry Butcher, farmer[1]
• Allen Whitt, president of the West Virginia Family Policy Council[2]

Endorsements

Shelley Moore Capito

Organizations

• Maggie's List[3]

Results

Results by county:

Capito

•   Capito—80–90%
•   Capito—70–80%

Republican primary results[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Shelley Moore Capito (incumbent)	173,847	83.32%
	Republican	Allen Whitt	20,075	9.62%
	Republican	Larry Butcher	14,717	7.05%
Total votes			208,639	100.00%

Democratic primary

Paula Jean Swearengin won the nomination with 38.8% of the vote in the state's Democratic primary on June 9, 2020.[5]

Nominee

• Paula Jean Swearengin, environmental activist and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2018[6][7][5]

Eliminated in primary

• Richard Ojeda, former state senator, nominee for West Virginia's 3rd congressional district in 2018, and former candidate for President of the United States in 2020[8][9]
• Richie Robb, former mayor of South Charleston[10]

Declined

• Mike Pushkin, state delegate[11]
• Earl Ray Tomblin, former Governor of West Virginia[11]

Endorsements

Paula Jean Swearengin

Organizations

• Brand New Congress[12]
• Students for Gun Legislation
• Sierra Club[13]

Results

Results by county

Swearengin

•   Swearengin—30-40%
•   Swearengin—40-50%
•   Swearengin—50-60%

Ojeda

•   Ojeda—40–50%
•   Ojeda—30–40%
•   Ojeda—20–30%

Robb

•   Robb—30-40%
•   Robb—40-50%
•   Robb—50-60%

Democratic primary results[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Paula Jean Swearengin	72,292	38.39%
	Democratic	Richard Ojeda	61,954	32.90%
	Democratic	Richie Robb	54,048	28.70%
Total votes			188,294	100.00%

Other candidates

Nominee

• David Moran[15]

Withdrawn

• Franklin Riley[16][15]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[17]	Safe R	August 17, 2020
Inside Elections[18]	Safe R	September 18, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[19]	Safe R	August 5, 2020
Daily Kos[20]	Safe R	August 31, 2020
Politico[21]	Safe R	September 9, 2020
RCP[22]	Safe R	September 17, 2020
Niskanen[23]	Safe R	September 15, 2020
DDHQ[24]	Safe R	September 16, 2020
538[25]	Safe R	September 18, 2020

Endorsements

Shelley Moore Capito (R)

Unions

• United Mine Workers District 17 [26]

Organizations

• Maggie's List[3]
• United States Chamber of Commerce [27]

Publications

• Charleston Gazette-Mail [28]
• The Herald-Dispatch [29]

Paula Jean Swearengin (D)

U.S. Senators

• Ed Markey, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts [30]
• Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont (Independent) and 2020 presidential candidate[31]

U.S. Representatives

• Grace Meng, U.S. Representative from NY-06[32]

State Legislators

• Richard Ojeda, West Virginia State Senator for the 7th district (2016–2019); 2020 presidential and U.S. Senate candidate[33]
• Charlotte Pritt, West Virginia State Senator for the 17th district (1988-1992); candidate for governor in 1992, 1996, and 2016[34]
• Charles Booker, Kentucky state representative from District 43[35]
• Nina Turner, Ohio Senator from District 25 (2008–2014), President of Our Revolution[36]

Notable Individuals

• Cori Bush, Democratic nominee for MO-1[37]
• Marianne Williamson, author, activist, and 2020 presidential candidate[38]
• Andrew Yang, author, entrepreneur, and 2020 presidential candidate[39]

Unions

• Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 21[40]

Organizations

• 350 Action [41]
• Brand New Congress[42]
• Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund[43]
• Friends of the Earth Action Fund[44]
• Progressive Democrats of America[45]
• Sierra Club[46]
• Sunrise Movement[47]
• Working Families Party[48]

Publications

• The Dominion Post[49]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[lower-alpha 1]	Margin of error	Shelley Moore Capito (R)	Paula Jean Swearengin (D)	David Moran (L)	Undecided
Research America Inc.	October 6–9, 2020	450 (LV)	± 4.6%	53%	33%	5%	9%

Hypothetical polling
Poll source Date(s) administered Sample size[lower-alpha 1] Margin of error Shelley Moore Capito (R) Generic Democrat Undecided Public Policy Polling (D)[upper-alpha 1] June 13–14, 2017 762 (V) ± 3.4% 48% 35% 17%

Results

United States Senate election in West Virginia, 2020[50]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Shelley Moore Capito (incumbent)	547,454	70.28%	+8.16%
	Democratic	Paula Jean Swearengin	210,309	27.00%	-7.47%
	Libertarian	David Moran	21,155	2.72%	+1.09%
Total votes			778,918	100.00%
	Republican hold

Notes

Partisan clients

1. Poll sponsored by Save My Care

Voter samples and additional candidates

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

References

1. Thomas, Alex (January 29, 2020). "Governor, US Senate seats up in this year's election".
2. Barker, Tyler (October 8, 2019). "Conservative Challenging Shelley Moore Capito For Senate". WOAY TV - ABC. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
3. "2020 Candidates". maggieslist.org.
4. "U.S. SENATOR - REP". Secretary of State of West Virginia. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
5. "West Virginia U.S. Senate Primary Election Results". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
6. "What Are The Knock Down The House Candidates Doing In 2019?". Bustle. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
7. Staff, WSAZ News. "U.S. Senate Candidate Paula Jean Swearengin wins W.Va. Democratic primary". www.wsaz.com. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
8. Ojeda, Richard (January 13, 2020). "To the People of West Virginia".
9. Pathe, Simone (January 13, 2020). "West Virginia's Richard Ojeda is back, this time running for Senate". Roll Call. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
10. Adams, Steven Allen (January 27, 2020). "Warner: Filings go smoothly on final day". The Inter-Mountain. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
11. Singiser, Steve. "Here's our ultimate Democratic wishlist for Senate in 2020. Who's on yours?". Daily Kos. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
12. "Paula Jean Swearengin". Brand New Congress. May 28, 2020.
13. "Sierra Club #ClimateVoter Guide: Endorsements". Sierra Club.
14. "U.S. SENATOR - DEM". Secretary of State of West Virginia. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
15. "WV SOS - Elections - Candidate - Online Data Services". services.sos.wv.gov.
16. Zuckerman, Jake (August 7, 2019). "Swearengin announces US Senate run as Democrat". WV Gazette Mail. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
17. "2020 Senate Race Ratings for April 19, 2019". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
18. "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
19. "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
20. "Daily Kos Elections releases initial Senate race ratings for 2020". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
21. "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
22. "Battle for White House". RCP. April 19, 2019.
23. "2020 Negative Partisanship and the 2020 Congressional Elections". Niskanen Center. April 28, 2020.
24. "2020 Senate Elections Model". Decision Desk HQ. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
25. Silver, Nate (September 18, 2020). "Forecasting the race for the Senate". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
26. Thomas, Alex (September 7, 2020). "Annual UMWA picnic goes virtual, but remains opportunity for candidates".
27. Thomas, Alex (September 10, 2020). "US Chamber of Commerce endorses Capito as senator seeks second term".
28. https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/editorial/gazette-mail-endorses-capito-for-us-senate/article_f2ff9ed2-6b0b-583b-9738-1af53db94877.html%7Ctitle=Gazette-Mail endorses Capito for US Senate|date=6 October 2020
29. "Editorial: Capito is best choice for U.S. Senate". The Herald-Dispatch.
30. @paulajean2020 (October 10, 2020). "Tonight at 7pm EST, join me and US Senator @EdMarkey at the #UniteOurFight rally. I'm so excited to stand beside Senator Markey in DC to fight for the everyday folks all across our nation. Let's end political dynasties and take our power back! Heart decoration pjwv.cc/rally" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
31. "Swearengin receives Sanders endorsement". July 9, 2020.
32. Grace Meng [@Grace4NY] (September 10, 2020). "Grace Meng: I'm with @paulajean2020! Join us!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
33. Richard Ojeda [@Ojeda4America] (June 30, 2020). "Richard Ojeda: I'm giving my full support to Paula Jean Swearingin" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
34. Charlotte Pritt [@betterbalance2] (August 25, 2020). "Charlotte Pritt: Yes! This coal miner's daughter is with you all the way" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
35. Charles Booker [@Booker4KY] (September 30, 2020). "Charles Booker:@paulajean2020 is a coal miner's daughter running for a Green New Deal in West Virginia so we can get a just transition for workers who've been left behind by industry and our politicians. She is a champion for the people, and we need her in the Senate!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
36. Paula Jean Swearengin [@paulajean2020] (August 26, 2020). "Paula Jean Swearengin:Thank you for your endorsement @ninaturner! I'm honored to have your support" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
37. Cori Bush [@CoriBush] (August 21, 2020). "Cori Bush:Paula Jean Swearengin is my sister from Knock Down the House, and while we came up short in 2018, in 2020 we are both demonstrating that this is our moment to make history" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
38. Marianne Williamson [@marwilliamson] (July 14, 2020). "Marianne Williamson:Let's help elect @paulajean2020 to the Senate in West Virginia" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
39. Paula Jean Swearengin [@paulajean2020] (August 28, 2020). "Swearengin:Thank you @AndrewYang for your endorsement!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
40. Paula Jean Swearengin [@paulajean2020] (September 1, 2020). "Swearengin:Thank you so much, @RWDSU Local 21! I'm honored to stand beside you all and will always vote to protect your rights" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
41. "Endorsements". 350 Action.
42. Brand New Congress. "Mother and Community Activist Paula Jean Swearengin for U.S. Senate, West Virginia".
43. "2020 Endorsements".
44. "Candidate Endorsements • Friends of the Earth Action". Friends of the Earth Action.
45. "2020 Endorsements". PDAmerica.
46. "Sierra Club Voter Guide: Endorsements". Sierra Club #ClimateVoter Guide. July 16, 2012.
47. Golshan, Tara (September 10, 2020). "Sunrise Movement Unveils 2020 Endorsements To Defeat Climate Change Deniers". HuffPost. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
48. "WV Working Families Endorses Paula Jean Swearengin". Paula Jean Swearengin. July 27, 2020.
49. "Swearengin for Senate". September 14, 2020.
50. "November 3, 2020 General Election - Official Results". West Virginia State - Clarity Elections. Retrieved November 30, 2020.

External links

• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "West Virginia", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "West Virginia: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of West Virginia". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• West Virginia at Ballotpedia

Official campaign websites

• Shelley Moore Capito (R) for Senate
• Paula Jean Swearengin (D) for Senate