2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia

The 2020 United States presidential election in West Virginia was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. West Virginia voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. West Virginia had five electoral votes in the Electoral College.

Trump easily carried West Virginia on Election Day by 38.9 points, although this marked a decrease from his 42.1-point victory in 2016, thereby making this the first time the state shifted to the left from the previous presidential election since 1996. Prior to the election, all 16 news organizations declared West Virginia a safe, or likely, red state. This was the first time ever that an incumbent Republican president carried the state while losing re–election.

With 68.62% of its vote, West Virginia would prove to be Trump's second-strongest state in 2020, only behind Wyoming. Overall, Trump earned the largest share of the vote won by any presidential candidate in the state until his subsequent performance in 2024, where he would win 69.97% of the vote. Since West Virginia became a Republican stronghold in recent elections, Biden is only the third Democrat ever to win the presidency without carrying the state, after Barack Obama and Woodrow Wilson.

Primary elections The primary elections were originally scheduled for May 12, 2020. In April, they were moved to June 9 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democratic primary Vice President Joe Biden won the Democratic primary and received all of West Virginia's 28 pledged delegates, as well as all six unpledged PLEO (party leaders and elected officials) delegates, to the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Republican primary Incumbent President Donald Trump won the Republican primary and received all of West Virginia's 35 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Mountain (Green) primary West Virginia's Green Party affiliate conducted an online party-run primary, utilizing the state's original primary date of May 12, 2020, as its deadline.

+ West Virginia Mountain (Green) Party presidential primary Candidate Percentage National delegatesHowie Hawkins 78.3% 5 David Rolde 8.7% 0Jesse Ventura (write-in) 8.7% 0Dario Hunter 4.3% 0 Total100.00%5

General election

Predictions SourceRankingAs ofThe Cook Political ReportSeptember 10, 2020Inside ElectionsSeptember 4, 2020Sabato's Crystal BallJuly 14, 2020PoliticoSeptember 8, 2020RCPAugust 3, 2020Niskanen2020 Bitecofer Model Electoral College Predictions , Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.July 26, 2020CNNAugust 3, 2020The EconomistSeptember 2, 2020CBS NewsAugust 16, 2020270towinAugust 2, 2020ABC NewsJuly 31, 2020NPRAugust 3, 2020NBC NewsAugust 6, 2020538September 9, 2020

Polling

Aggregate polls Source of pollaggregationDates administeredDates updatedJoeBiden DonaldTrumpOther/undecidedMargin270 to WinOctober 13–23, 2020November 3, 202038.5%55.5%6.0%Trump +17.0FiveThirtyEightuntil November 2, 2020November 3, 202033.5%62.1%4.4%Trump +28.6Average36.0%58.8%5.2%Trump +22.8

Polls Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin DonaldTrumpJoeBidenJoJorgensenHowieHawkinsOtherUndecidedSurveyMonkey/AxiosOct 20 – Nov 2, 2020816 (LV)± 5%67%32% – – – –SurveyMonkey/AxiosOct 1–28, 20201,359 (LV) –66%32% – – – –Triton Polling and Research/WMOVOct 19–21, 2020544 (LV)± 4.2%58%38% – – –4%Research America Inc./West Virginia Metro NewsOct 6–9, 2020450 (LV)± 4.6%53%39%4%1% –3%Triton Polling & Research/WMOVSep 29–30, 2020525 (RV)± 4.3%56%38% – – –5%SurveyMonkey/AxiosSep 1–30, 2020516 (LV) –62%36% – – –2%SurveyMonkey/AxiosAug 1–31, 2020496 (LV) –65%32% – – –2%SurveyMonkey/AxiosJul 1–31, 2020494 (LV) –67%32% – – –1%SurveyMonkey/AxiosJun 8–30, 2020264 (LV) –72%27% – – –1%WPA Intelligence/Club for Growth Jan 7–9, 2020 500 (LV) ± 4.4%66% 31% – – – 3%Donald Trump vs. Bernie Sanders Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin DonaldTrump (R) BernieSanders (D) UndecidedWPA Intelligence/Club for Growth Jan 7–9, 2020 500 (LV) ± 4.4 %66% 29% 5%Tulchin Research Oct 6–13, 2017 400 (LV) ± 4.9% 46% 48% 6%

Donald Trump vs. Elizabeth Warren Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin DonaldTrump (R) ElizabethWarren (D) UndecidedZogby Analytics Aug 17–23, 2017 401 (LV) ± 4.9% 43% 40% 17%

Results

Trump won West Virginia, carrying the popular vote in each of the state's 55 counties.

By congressional district Trump won all three congressional districts. District Trump Biden Representative 68% 30%David McKinley 65% 33%Alex Mooney 73% 25%Carol Miller

By county CountyDonald TrumpRepublicanJoe BidenDemocraticVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal#%#%#%#%Barbour5,11676.62%1,45721.82%1041.56%3,65954.80%6,677Berkeley33,27964.57%17,18633.35%1,0742.08%16,09331.22%51,539Boone6,81675.62%2,04122.65%1561.73%4,77552.97%9,013Braxton4,12072.74%1,45725.72%871.54%2,66347.02%5,664Brooke7,54570.81%2,94727.66%1641.53%4,59843.15%10,656Cabell21,72158.14%14,99440.13%6451.73%6,72718.01%37,360Calhoun2,36479.57%56819.12%391.31%1,79660.45%2,971Clay2,67979.61%64119.05%451.34%2,03860.56%3,365Doddridge2,61984.46%43514.03%471.51%2,18470.43%3,101Fayette11,58068.64%5,06330.01%2271.35%6,51738.63%16,870Gilmer2,01275.58%59922.50%511.92%1,41353.08%2,662Grant4,87188.40%60711.02%320.58%4,26477.38%5,510Greenbrier10,92568.93%4,65529.37%2701.70%6,27039.56%15,850Hampshire8,03379.65%1,93919.22%1141.13%6,09460.43%10,086Hancock9,80671.05%3,79027.46%2061.49%6,01643.59%13,802Hardy4,85976.73%1,38121.81%931.46%3,47854.92%6,333Harrison20,68367.89%9,21530.25%5671.86%11,46837.64%30,465Jackson10,09374.71%3,20723.74%2091.55%6,88650.97%13,509Jefferson15,03354.26%12,12743.77%5451.97%2,90610.49%27,705Kanawha46,39856.41%34,34441.76%1,5081.83%12,05414.65%82,250Lewis5,78277.52%1,53820.62%1391.86%4,24456.90%7,459Lincoln6,01276.77%1,71121.85%1081.38%4,30154.92%7,831Logan10,53480.87%2,33317.91%1591.22%8,20162.96%13,026Marion16,30063.18%8,90134.50%5982.32%7,39928.68%25,799Marshall10,43574.11%3,45524.54%1901.35%6,98049.57%14,080Mason8,49175.77%2,52622.54%1891.69%5,96553.23%11,206McDowell5,14878.87%1,33320.42%460.71%3,81558.45%6,527Mercer19,23776.53%5,55622.10%3421.37%13,68154.43%25,135Mineral10,04077.97%2,66020.66%1761.37%7,38057.31%12,876Mingo8,54485.22%1,39713.93%850.85%7,14771.29%10,026Monongalia20,80349.44%20,28248.20%9942.36%5211.24%42,079Monroe5,06878.09%1,34520.72%771.19%3,72357.37%6,490Morgan6,53775.17%1,99822.98%1611.85%4,53952.19%8,696Nicholas8,27977.86%2,22620.93%1281.21%6,05356.93%10,633Ohio12,35462.08%7,22336.30%3231.62%5,13125.78%19,900Pendleton2,78276.03%82022.41%571.56%1,96253.62%3,659Pleasants2,74278.54%69920.02%501.44%2,04358.52%3,491Pocahontas2,89572.21%1,04726.12%671.57%1,84846.09%4,009Preston11,19076.79%3,16321.70%2201.51%8,02755.09%14,573Putnam20,03470.29%7,87827.64%5892.07%12,15642.65%28,501Raleigh24,67374.51%7,98224.10%4591.39%16,69150.41%33,114Randolph8,67371.09%3,36227.56%1651.35%5,31143.53%12,200Ritchie3,64985.20%58613.68%481.12%3,06371.52%4,283Roane4,21373.10%1,45525.25%951.65%2,75847.85%5,763Summers4,07472.95%1,44825.93%631.12%2,62647.02%5,585Taylor5,47774.18%1,79624.33%1101.49%3,68149.85%7,383Tucker2,84173.89%93824.40%661.71%1,90349.49%3,845Tyler3,22682.23%63116.08%661.69%2,59566.15%3,923Upshur7,77176.01%2,25622.07%1961.92%5,51553.94%10,223Wayne12,58574.26%4,08824.12%2741.62%8,49750.14%16,947Webster2,75981.10%61017.93%330.97%2,14963.17%3,402Wetzel4,99374.87%1,53923.08%1372.05%3,45451.79%6,669Wirt2,13480.44%46617.57%531.99%1,66862.87%2,653Wood27,20270.17%10,92628.19%6371.64%16,27641.98%38,765Wyoming7,35385.58%1,15713.47%820.95%6,19672.11%8,592Totals545,38268.62%235,98429.69%13,3651.69%309,39838.93%794,731

Analysis West Virginia, which was solidly Democratic territory for much of the 20th century, has consistently voted Republican in presidential elections since 2000. Republicans started making gains in the state in the 21st century due to championing of environmentalism by Democrats such as 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore, which challenged entrenched coal-mining interests.

West Virginia gave Trump his second-highest vote share in 2020, swapping places with Wyoming, after having been Trump's strongest state by vote share in 2016. This is the best Republican performance in state history, surpassing the record set in the previous election. West Virginia was one of two states where Trump won every county, the other being Oklahoma. The closest county in the state, and the only one Trump won without a majority of the vote, was Monongalia County, home to Morgantown and the main campus of West Virginia University. Biden's losing margin of 1.24% in Monongalia marked the closest a Democrat has come to winning any county in West Virginia since 2008. This was the third consecutive presidential election where every county within the state voted Republican, but the first since 1996 in which the Democratic vote share increased relative to the preceding election. Biden received over 40% of the vote in only 4 counties - Monongalia; Kanawha County, home to the state capital and largest city Charleston; Cabell County, home to Marshall University and to the state's second largest city Huntington; and Jefferson County, home to Washington, D.C., exurbs.

Per exit polls by the Associated Press, Trump's strength in West Virginia came from voters who prioritized protecting and expanding production of fossil fuels, such as coal, who comprised 58% of voters and broke for Trump by 90%. Trump's strongest region was southern West Virginia. This coal-mining, union-heavy region was once among the most heavily Democratic places in the nation; Logan County, for example, broke 72% of its ballots for Bill Clinton in 1996, 61% for Al Gore in 2000, 52% for John Kerry in 2004, and even 51% for George McGovern in his only statewide county win in 1972; but by 2008, John McCain flipped it to the Republican column with 54% of the vote, which increased to 68% for Mitt Romney in 2012 and by 2016 and 2020, it had voted 79.6% and 80.9% for Trump, respectively.

During the same election cycle, incumbent Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito was re-elected by a margin slightly larger than Trump's, beating out Democrat Paula Jean Swearengin by 43.3 points.

Notes

Partisan clients

See also United States presidential elections in West Virginia 2020 United States presidential election 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries 2020 Green Party presidential primaries 2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries 2020 United States elections 2020 United States Senate election in West Virginia 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia

References

External links

(state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)