West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair was among four senators who lost their seats to Republican opponents Primary election on Tuesday.
Blair, R-Berkeley, lost to Tom Willis, a Martinsburg attorney. Willis received 44% of the vote, Blair 32%. A third candidate, former Del. Mike Folk, received 23% of the vote. Folk then made headlines in 2016 calls for the public execution of former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Additionally, Sen. Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, lost to his opponent Chris Rose, Sen. Chandler Swope, R-Mercer, lost to his opponent Craig Hart and Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Randolph, lost to his opponent Robbie Morris.
Blair has served in the Senate since 2012 and previously served in the House of Representatives. He was elected Senate President in 2021 and 2023.
According to campaign finance reports, Blair brought in more than $410,000 in donations this election year and spent about $321,000 on the race. Willis raised about $41,000 and loaned his campaign $71,000. He spent about $106,000 on the race.
In a press release following his victory, Willis said that Blair’s defeat “underlines the desire for new perspectives and renewed representation in the political landscape”. “
“I will do my utmost to maintain your trust in me as we move WV together toward freedom and prosperity and fight for victory in the general election,” the statement said.
Maroney, a doctor who chaired the Senate Health Committee, spoke out and voted against a bill This year, that would have weakened the state’s strict school vaccination requirements. House Bill 5105, which received broad support from Republicans, would have allowed the state’s private and parochial schools to set their own rules for vaccination requirements. The bill was passed by both chambers but was ultimately rejected by Governor Jim Justice on at the behest of members of the medical community.
While transgender rights have been in the crosshairs of state Republicans, Maroney supported a failed amendment last year That would have eased the state’s ban on minors receiving gender-specific care. The change would have allowed those receiving care at the time it came into effect to continue their treatment.
“This is the equivalent of passing a law that says you can’t treat someone for schizophrenia. That’s like saying you can’t give someone chemotherapy drugs. These are all peer-reviewed and proven. That’s true too, but it’s just something we don’t understand or don’t understand,” Maroney said at the time during committee debate on the bill. “To deny them further treatment – in my opinion, that is not only uneducated, but also cruel.”
A Rose website describes him as a “fourth-generation miner, Christian and constitutional conservative” as well as a “MAGA Republican.”
According to campaign finance reports, Rose raised about $53,000 in donations and spent about $54,000 on the race. Maroney raised about $121,000 and spent $146,000 on the race, campaign finance reports show.
Karnes was first elected to the Senate in 2014 and has served since then, with the exception of 2018 to 2020.
Morris, of Randolph County, is executive director of the Randolph County Development Authority and the West Virginia Wood Technology Center.
Karnes, reached Thursday, attributed the loss to “massive spending.”
According to campaign finance reports, Morris brought in about $161,000 in donations and spent $119,000. Karnes brought in about $25,000 and spent about $14,000.
Karnes said he was “completely pleased” with the outcome of the primary, as Senators Blair, Maroney and Swope, of whom he was critical, were also unseated. He said he supports her opponents in their races.
“I knew if I focused hard on these other races it could very well cost me my race, but I felt like it was very worth it, worth doing it and that’s why I did it.” said Karnes.
Swope, who is retired from the construction industry and was first elected in 2016, received about 37% of the vote, while Hart received 40.8%. A third candidate, former Del. Eric Porterfield, won 22% of the vote in that race. As a delegate in 2019, Porterfield became known for his anti-LGBT views after comparing LGBTQ people to the KKK and the KKK using an anti-gay slur.
When Swope arrived Thursday, he attributed his defeat to the three-way split and Porterfield’s vote removal from Mercer County, which he said would normally have been his strength. The district includes portions of Wayne, Mingo, McDowell and Mercer counties.
“I think my record as a senator was very strong,” Swope said. “I’ve been able to accomplish some very important things.” He added that he helped cut through bureaucracy for a company that plans to bring a modern coal operation to Mercer County that will create jobs.
Swope said that while he was disappointed by the defeat, he was more worried about Blair losing the election.
“Craig has shown me leadership qualities that are simply remarkable,” Swope said. “He’s got a million things to deal with, 37 people he’s trying to manage, and he knows which bills are in which committees and which paragraphs need fixing and which bills, and I can’t even remember the numbers of the bills, that I wrote. He has a remarkable intellectual range.
“He has an aggressive leadership style: When he sees something, he takes action,” Swope said. “I just have the greatest admiration for him.”
Rose will not face a Democratic opponent in the general election.
In November, Willis will face Democrat Anthony Murray, Morris will face Democrat Mandy Smith Weirich and Hart will face Democrat Randy Fowler.
