Fired up: Democratic candidates barnstorm West Virginia ahead of November

CHARLESTON - What started in 2025 as a kitchen table tour morphed this year into a way of bringing Democratic candidates for Congress, the West Virginia Legislature and local offices to the people ahead of the November midterm election.

The Democratic caucus in the House of Delegates brought their Kitchen Table Tour on Monday to City Center at Slack Plaza in downtown Charleston. This year's tour started in Marion County last week and heads to the Danville Community Center in Boone County at 6 p.m. today.

The nine-member House Democratic caucus started their annual tour last year as a way of getting in front of the public, taking questions and bringing ideas back to Charleston ahead of the 2026 legislative session. But this year, House Democratic delegates are hoping to bring new faces with them to the 2027 legislative session and grow their numbers.

"We went all over the state, and we did something the Republicans are just not willing to do, and that’s actually listen to people," said Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, the chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party. "Not only did that make us better delegates and better legislators being able to listen to what the people of the state needed, but it also got the word out. And in doing so ... we were able to identify and recruit a bunch of top-notch candidates to run for office."

"This is not like your regular campaign election cycle. This is a full-blown movement," said House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. "This is a movement to return to normalcy, because the times that we’re living in ain’t normal."

The Democratic Party enjoyed wide majorities in voter registration and in legislative, statewide and congressional seats for most of the 20th century and part of the first decade of the new millennium. But Republicans took the majority in the House of Delegates and state Senate in 2015, with Democratic House seats dwindling to nine and Democratic state Senate seats dropping to two.

Following then- Gov. Jim Justice's switch from Democrat to Republican in 2017 and current U.S. Rep's Riley Moore's election as state treasurer in 2020, Republicans gained a majority of Board of Public Works seats. And with the retirement of former Democrat-turned-independent U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin and Justice's 2024 election to succeed him, the entire state congressional delegation is in GOP hands.

The Democratic Party also lost the majority of voter registrations in the state at the beginning of 2021, with Republican registrations increasing year after year since then. As of the end of August, Republican voter registration in the state was 525,194, or 43.6% of West Virginia's 1.2 million registered voters, compared to 326,023 registered Democrats.

But Democratic leaders believe they have hit a floor and see an opportunity to begin making gains again in West Virginia, focusing on affordability, public education, access to healthcare, energy prices and data center concerns, and restoring local control. Hornbuckle said the decision to choose Democratic candidates is obvious.

"You can’t pick a side when you’re tearing down public education and driving people out of the state," Hornbuckle said. "There isn’t a side to take away local control. It shouldn’t exist, right? There isn’t a side when the people who are in control are not standing up to try to help lower gas prices, lower your groceries and making life affordable. It just doesn’t exist."

One of the Democratic candidates seeking support Monday night was Vince George of South Charleston, who is challenging four-term U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., who represents the 1st Congressional District covering the southern half of the state, including Gilmer, Wirt, Jackson and Mason counties. The event also included several local Democratic candidates for seats in the House of Delegates and state Senate.

Remaining House Democratic caucus Kitchen Table Tour dates include 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Shepherdstown Opera House in Jefferson County; 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the Hancock County Senior Center in New Cumberland; and Wednesday, Oct. 21, in Cabell County (location to be announced).

"So, as we march forward towards Nov. 3, we’re going to stay in this thing together. And we’re going to keep on working. We’re going to keep on coming. We’re going to keep on knocking, because the job is not finished," Hornbuckle said.