1998 West Virginia Senate election

The 1998 West Virginia Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 3, 1998. State senate seats in West Virginia are staggered, with senators serving 4-year terms. 18 of the 34 state senate seats were up for election,^[1] with SD 2 holding an additional special election for Larry Wiedebusch's seat, who died on October 25, 1997. ^[2] Jeffrey V. Kessler was appointed to fill the seat and was re-elected by a wide margin. The election took place concurrently with the U.S. House elections. The Democratic Party won over 60% of the vote for state senate candidates and flipped 4 Republican seats, retaining a supermajority in the state legislature's upper chamber.

1998 West Virginia Senate elections

← 1996 November 3, 1998 2000 →
← These seats' last election (1994) These seats' next election (2002) →
18 of 34 seats in the West Virginia Senate (17 regular, 1 special) 18 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Earl Ray Tomblin Vic Sprouse Party Democratic Republican Leader since 1995 1998 Leader's seat SD 7 SD 8 Seats before 25 9 Seats after 29 5 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 265,373 149,651 Percentage 63.2% 35.6% Seats up 12 6 Seats won 16 2
Winner by party Margin of victory Circular inset (SD 2): Special election Holds and gains      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold Democratic   50–60%   60–70%   80–90%   >90% Republican   50–60%
Senate President before election Earl Ray Tomblin Democratic Elected Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin Democratic

Summary

Summary of the 1998 West Virginia Senate election results^[3]

Party		Candidates	Votes	%	Seats
					Before	Up	Won	After	+/–
	Democratic	18	265,373	63.2%	25	12	16	29	4
	Republican	13	149,651	35.6%	9	6	2	5	4
	Libertarian	3	5,100	1.2%	0	0	0	0
	Write-in	1	8	nil	0	0	0	0
Total			420,124	100%	34	18		34

Popular vote Democratic   63.2% Republican   35.6% Libertarian   1.2% Write-in   nil%

Senate seats Democratic   85.3% Republican   14.7%

SD 1

1998 West Virginia SD 1 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edwin Bowman (incumbent)	14,118	64.0
	Republican	Don Chaney	7,944	36.0
Total votes			22,062	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 2 (Full term)

1998 West Virginia SD 2 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Larry Edgell	11,253	56.4
	Republican	Charles Clements	8,691	43.6
Total votes			19,944	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 2 (Unexpired term)

1998 West Virginia SD 2 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeffrey Kessler	13,308	66.5
	Republican	Douglas Sapp	6,697	33.5
Total votes			20,005	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 3

1998 West Virginia SD 3 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank Deem (incumbent)	14,159	53.2
	Democratic	Paul Thornton	12,465	46.8
	Write-in	Larry Butcher	8	nil
Total votes			26,632	100.0
	Republican hold

SD 4

1998 West Virginia SD 4 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Oshel Craigo (incumbent)	18,183	57.7
	Republican	Kelly Given	13,328	42.3
Total votes			31,511	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 5

1998 West Virginia SD 5 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Marie Redd	9,082	50.6
	Republican	Thomas R. Scott (incumbent)	8,867	49.4
Total votes			17,949	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

SD 6

1998 West Virginia SD 6 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	H. Truman Chafin (incumbent)	10,669	100.0
Total votes			10,669	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 7

1998 West Virginia SD 7 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lloyd G. Jackson II (incumbent)	11,840	100.0
Total votes			11,840	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 8

1998 West Virginia SD 8 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John R. Mitchell, Jr.	26,149	57.1
	Republican	Jack Buckalew (incumbent)	19,643	42.9
Total votes			45,792	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

SD 9

1998 West Virginia SD 9 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William R. Wooton (incumbent)	11,552	80.0
	Libertarian	Joy Johnson	2,892	20.0
Total votes			14,444	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 10

1998 West Virginia SD 10 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leonard Anderson	11,452	61.4
	Republican	Thomas Fast	6,022	33.3
	Libertarian	Elizabeth Simmons	1,175	6.3
Total votes			18,649	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 11

1998 West Virginia SD 11 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Randy Schoonover (incumbent)	15,065	100.0
Total votes			15,065	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 12

1998 West Virginia SD 12 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joseph M. Minard	15,961	65.5
	Republican	David Hinkle	8,416	34.5
Total votes			24,377	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 13

1998 West Virginia SD 13 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Oliverio (incumbent)	19,094	100.0
Total votes			19,094	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 14

1998 West Virginia SD 14 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sarah Minear (incumbent)	15,230	56.3
	Democratic	Gary Livengood	10,795	39.9
	Libertarian	John Bartlett	1,033	3.8
Total votes			27,058	100.0
	Republican hold

SD 15

1998 West Virginia SD 15 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Walt Helmick (incumbent)	14,879	61.7
	Republican	Les Shoemaker	9,238	38.3
Total votes			24,117	100.0
	Democratic hold

SD 16

1998 West Virginia SD 16 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Unger	13,037	55.5
	Republican	Harry Dugan (incumbent)	10,439	44.5
Total votes			23,476	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

SD 17

2000 West Virginia SD 17 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brooks McCabe	26,471	55.8
	Republican	Larry Kimble	20,977	44.2
Total votes			47,448	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

1. Holmes, Darrell (2001). West Virginia Blue Book (PDF) (Volume 82 ed.). p. 733. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
2. Holmes, Darrell (2001). West Virginia Blue Book (PDF) (Volume 82 ed.). p. 416. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
3. Holmes, Darrell (2001). West Virginia Blue Book (PDF) (Volume 82 ed.). p. 733. Retrieved February 18, 2024.