Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Alcock, Frank

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies and Political Science

Abstract

From 1960 to 1996, West Virginia voted for just two Republican presidential candidates. West Virginia was known for being filled with “New Deal Democrats” and had all Democratic Senators and just three Republican Governors from 1961 to 1997. Since 2000, West Virginia has voted for Republican presidential candidates each election cycle. This paper seeks to examine this change in political voting outcomes through a historical and political analysis of voting trends in West Virginia from 1960 to 2018. Gubernatorial and congressional data are also examined. The results of this paper illustrate that positions for the Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and Governor are being increasingly filled by Republican candidates in West Virginia in the twenty first century. The results of this paper also suggest that this change in voting outcomes--from blue to red--coincided with the increase of federal environmental regulations and the subsequent “war on coal.” This paper posits that the “war on coal” is now being widely used as a political tactic in West Virginia. In 2018, one Democrat remains in power in West Virginia in the three political positions studied. This study postulates that voters in West Virginia may be more receptive to populist rhetoric. A future study should examine public opinion in greater depth to further understand this change in political voting outcomes.

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