Do West Virginia politicians know it’s an election year?

Democrat Glenn Elliott, who is running against Gov. Jim Justice for U.S. Senate, stopped in Buckhannon, W.Va., to knock on doors and talk to residents on Aug. 15, 2024. (Elliott for WV | Courtesy photo)

Typically during an election year, candidates are out campaigning in the summer, meeting constituents, knocking on doors and kissing babies for photos.

But so far we’re not seeing a lot of that in West Virginia. Sure, there have been television ads and text message campaigns, and lots of passive aggressive posts on social media — in other words, online but not in line at the county fair.

Of course, a couple of candidates who need to increase their name recognition have been out and about. For instance, Democrat Glenn Elliott, who is running against Republican Gov. Jim Justice for the U.S. Senate, has visited 47 counties so far, including a stop in Charleston this past weekend, and has upcoming town halls listed on his website.

Justice, however, hasn’t been seen much. Of course, he’s got to run the state, although lately that seems to consist of passing out giant checks and ceremonial bill signing . Justice sightings in the Capitol city also are rare as he continues to prefer his home in Lewisburg. The West Virginia Democratic Party recently posted a recording of him telling people there’s “not a fiber” in him that wants to go to D.C. His last news release on his campaign’s website is from April.

Democrats have an uphill battle this election as West Virginia continues to become redder — the number of registered Republicans in West Virginia has grown by 27% over the last eight years. Republicans now make up about 41% of registered voters in West Virginia as of July 31 . Democrats make up about 30% and people with no party affiliation make up about 25% of registered voters.

In some districts, Republicans are running unopposed. According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, 25 Republicans won their state legislative races without facing an opponent in the 2022 general election.

Despite the advantage that having an R next to a candidate’s name provides, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican candidate for governor, is another who has been making stops across the state to improve his name recognition. On his X account, he recently posted about visiting the Tri-County Fair in Grant County.

Morrisey is running against Huntington Mayor Steve Williams. While the Democrat has a high profile in Cabell County, the long-time mayor is not well known in the rest of the state. He’s done more digital campaigning than in-person events — since the May primary, he posted about two campaign stops — Elkins on July 5 and Parkersburg this past weekend .

This is what candidates need to do — travel all over the state to talk to West Virginians.

Each part of the state and its people are so different — I grew up in Putnam County and when I moved to Morgantown to attend West Virginia University, Monongalia County felt like another state. Huntington, while also a college town, doesn’t have many other similarities with Morgantown. At my first newspaper job, I covered local governments in Barbour, Doddridge, Harrison, Lewis, Marion, Taylor and Upshur counties, and while all were in the north central part of the state, each county faced unique issues.

Sure, maybe people in those central counties have similar concerns when voting, but people in Southern West Virginia or the Eastern Panhandle could have very different opinions. And that’s why it’s important to try to reach as many West Virginians as possible.

Could it be a result of COVID precautions during the 2020 election that has made candidates rely on less face-to-face time with constituents?

Technology has changed elections. Candidates are able to reach more people online, and they can post information that anyone with an internet connection can read. In the past, there was a reliance on newspapers’ voting guides, but those are often behind paywalls.

And while it is easier to put information online to voters, some candidates don’t even have campaign websites or Facebook pages, making information on them incredibly difficult to find. I had to dig around to find contact information for some candidates to fill out our 2024 Voter Guide , and some still haven’t responded to my questions.

One important thing to remember about West Virginia is that there’s still areas with no internet available, or the connection is so slow, it’s unusable.

For those who can get online, there’s sometimes distrust in social media. After Elon Musk purchased Twitter, changed its name to X and let people buy verification instead of earning it, many people no longer trust the social media platform as a source to find news. In fact, after Musk’s takeover in November 2022, the site saw a decrease of 23% of daily users as of February of this year.

Facebook is filled with AI-generated spam , and unfortunately many people don’t know that what they’re seeing isn’t real.

To reach West Virginians, you have to come to them. Not everyone will go to a town hall, especially if they can’t get off work, or it’s not someone they’re interested in voting for or if they’re just disenchanted with politics. But if someone were to bump into a candidate at a parade, a county fair, a festival or just walking down the street and have a conversation that could have a positive impact on the voter.

It’s festival season — that’s a great time for candidates to go out and talk with constituents. As a former marching band member, I’ve been to plenty of parades, and in the past I’ve seen politicians at all of them handing out fliers. These events are the perfect opportunity to speak with a variety of personalities in the state — and get a taco-in-a-bag.

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