The 2022 West Virginia House of Delegates election was held on November 8, 2022, electing all 100 members of the chamber. This coincided with the election of 17 of West Virginia's 34 state senators, and the election of West Virginia's two U.S. representatives. Primary elections were held on May 10, 2022. Due to redistricting, this was the first House of Delegates election in which all members were elected from single member districts, with West Virginia following a trend of states phasing out multi-member districts in recent decades.
The Republican party won 88 seats, increasing their supermajority in the chamber. In early 2023, delegate Elliott Pritt switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, increasing the party's seat count to 89.
Background In the 2020 House of Delegates election, the Republican Party gained almost 20 seats from the Democrats, achieving supermajority status. This has followed West Virginia's sharp turn towards the Republican Party in the preceding 20 years, and the Republicans' growing prominence in state politics. Between the 2020 and 2022 elections, two Democrats switched their party affiliation to Republican.
Retiring incumbents
Democrats Five Democrats retired.
District 5: Dave Pethtel retired. District 20: Nathan Brown retired to run for Mingo County Commission. District 34: Brent Boggs retired. District 51: Barbara Fleischauer retired to run for state senator from District 13. District 67: John Doyle retired to run for Jefferson County Commission.
Republicans Nine Republicans retired.
District 10: John R. Kelly retired to run for state senator from District 3. District 16: John Mandt retired to run for Cabell County Commission. District 22: Zack Maynard retired. District 25: Tony Paynter retired to run for Wyoming County Circuit Clerk. District 30: Mick Bates retired to run for state senator from District 9. District 32: Kayla Kessinger retired. District 48: Ben Queen retired to run for state senator from District 12. District 52: Terri Sypolt retired. District 61: Jason Barrett retired to run for state senator from District 16.
Predictions SourceRankingAs of Sabato's Crystal Ball May 19, 2022
Speakership election On August 8, 2022, Brandon Steele, a Republican from Raleigh County, announced his intent to run for Speaker against incumbent Roger Hanshaw. House Democratic leader Doug Skaff stated on the Mountain State Views podcast that he and his caucus would support Hanshaw over Steele in a speakership contest.
On December 4, 2022, Hanshaw was chosen to lead the Republican caucus for another two years, winning with 53 votes to Steele's 30. In the Democratic caucus, Skaff was re-elected as minority leader.
On January 11, 2023, the 86th Legislature convened, and the election for Speaker was held. Republican David Kelly nominated Hanshaw, who was seconded by John Hardy, and Democrat Ric Griffith nominated Skaff, who was seconded by Shawn Fluharty.
Overview +↓8812RepublicanDem. 2022 West Virginia House of Delegates electionPartyRaces contestedVotesPercentage% changeSeats beforeSeats after+/–Republican 99316,58868.68% 9.9%7888 10Democratic76138,74730.10% 10.4%2212 1022,5650.56% 0.5%00Independent21,6300.35% 0.2%00Mountain26410.14% 0.1%00Libertarian25480.12% 0.2%00Write-in32240.05%—100100—Totals100460,943100.00%Turnout39.95% 23.3%
Close races Districts where the margin of victory was under 10%: District 56, 1% District 27, 1.6% District 82, 2.6% District 50, 3.6% District 52, 4% District 24, 5.2% District 70, 7.6% District 32, 9% District 75, 9% District 76, 9.2% District 5, 9.2% District 100, 9.6% District 3, 9.8%
Appointments During West Virginia's 85th Legislature (2021–2022), several delegates resigned from their seats in the House of Delegates. According to §3-10-5 of West Virginia Code, vacancies in the House of Delegates are filled through appointment by the Governor of one of three candidates chosen by the executive committee of the outgoing member's party. Below is a list of appointments made during the 85th Legislature.
DistrictIncumbentPartyAppointeeDeparting MemberFirst electedIncoming memberAppt. date132016Rep192020Rep222018Rep282018 (appointed)Rep352020Rep422020Rep
Incumbents defeated In primaries Democrats District 27: Chad Lovejoy lost renomination to fellow incumbent Ric Griffith in a redistricting race.
Republicans District 11: Roger Conley lost renomination to Bob Fehrenbacher. District 14: Shannon Kimes lost renomination to Dave Foggin. District 18: Johnnie Wamsley lost renomination to Jim Butler. District 28: Josh Booth lost renomination to Mark Ross. District 59: Dianna Graves lost renomination to Andy Shamblin. District 69: Danny Hamrick lost renomination to Keith Marple. District 74: Guy Ward lost renomination to Mike DeVault. District 89: Ruth Rowan lost renomination to Darren Thorne. District 90: Ken Reed lost renomination to fellow incumbent George A. Miller in a redistricting race.
In general elections
Democrats
District 3: Phillip DiSerio lost re-election to Jimmy Willis. District 7: Lisa Zukoff lost re-election to Charles Sheedy. District 36: Ed Evans lost re-election to Anita Hall. District 67: Cody Thompson lost re-election to Elias Coop-Gonzalez
Republicans
District 50: Austin Haynes lost re-election to David Pritt. District 56: Andrew Anderson lost election to incumbent Kayla Young.
List of districts District 1 • District 2 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 7 • District 8 • District 9 • District 10 • District 11 • District 12 • District 13 • District 14 • District 15 • District 16 • District 17 • District 18 • District 19 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 23 • District 24 • District 25 • District 26 • District 27 • District 28 • District 29 • District 30 • District 31 • District 32 • District 33 • District 34 • District 35 • District 36 • District 37 • District 38 • District 39 • District 40 • District 41 • District 42 • District 43 • District 44 • District 45 • District 46 • District 47 • District 48 • District 49 • District 50 • District 51 • District 52 • District 53 • District 54 • District 55 • District 56 • District 57 • District 58 • District 59 • District 60 • District 61 • District 62 • District 63 • District 64 • District 65 • District 66 • District 67 • District 68 • District 69 • District 70 • District 71 • District 72 • District 73 • District 74 • District 75 • District 76 • District 77 • District 78 • District 79 • District 80 • District 81 • District 82 • District 83 • District 84 • District 85 • District 86 • District 87 • District 88 • District 89 • District 90 • District 91 • District 92 • District 93 • District 94 • District 95 • District 96 • District 97 • District 98 • District 99 • District 100 __NOTOC__
District 1 Incumbent Pat McGeehan was first elected in 2014.
General election
District 2 Incumbent Mark Zatezalo was first elected in 2014, left the House of Delegates in 2018, and was elected again in 2020.
General election
District 3 Incumbent Phillip Diserio was first elected in 2012, left the House of Delegates in 2014, and was elected again in 2016.
General election
District 4 Incumbent Erikka Storch was first elected in 2010.
General election
District 5 Incumbent Shawn Fluharty was first elected in 2014.
General election
District 6 Incumbent Charlie Reynolds was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 7 Incumbent Lisa Zukoff was first elected in 2018.
General election
District 8 Incumbent David Kelly was first elected in 2018.
General election
District 9 Incumbent Trenton Barnhart was appointed in 2019.
General election
District 10 Incumbent William Anderson was first elected in 1992.
General election
District 11 Incumbent Roger Conley was first elected in 2020. Conley lost the Republican primary to Bob Fehrenbacher.
General election
District 12 Incumbent Vernon Criss was first elected in 2016.
General election
District 13
General election
District 14 Incumbent Shannon Kimes was first elected in 2020. Kimes lost the Republican primary to Dave Foggin.
General election
District 15 Incumbent Riley Keaton was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 16 Incumbent Steve Westfall was first elected in 2012.
General election
District 17 Incumbent Jonathan Pinson was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 18 Incumbent Johnnie Wamsley was first elected in 2020. Wamsley lost the Republican primary to Jim Butler.
General election
District 19 Incumbent Kathie Hess Crouse was appointed in 2021.
General election
District 20 Incumbent Geoff Foster was first elected in 2014.
General election
District 21 Incumbent Jarred Cannon was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Joe Jeffries' resignation in June 2022, one month after Cannon won the Republican primary for District 21.
General election
District 22 Incumbent Daniel Linville was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 23 Incumbent Evan Worrell was first elected in 2018.
District 24
General election
District 25 Incumbent Sean Hornbuckle was first elected in 2014.
General election
District 26 Incumbent Matthew Rohrbach was first elected in 2014.
General election
District 27 Incumbent Chad Lovejoy was elected in 2016. Incumbent Ric Griffith was elected in 2020. Griffith defeated Lovejoy in the Democratic primary caused by redistricting.
General election
District 28 Incumbent Josh Booth was appointed in 2021. Booth lost the Republican primary to Mark Ross.
General election
District 29
General election
District 30
General election
District 31 Incumbent Margitta Mazzocchi was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 32 Incumbent Josh Holstein was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 33 Incumbent Jordan Bridges was first elected in 2020.
District 34 Incumbent Mark Dean was first elected in 2016.
General election
District 35
General election
District 36 Incumbent Ed Evans was first elected in 2016.
In the close District 36 Republican primary, Tom Acosta, who held a one-vote lead in election night returns, was defeated by the same margin by Anita Hall after canvassing.
General election
District 37 Incumbent Marty Gearheart was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 38 Incumbent Joe Ellington was first elected in 2010.
General election
District 39 Incumbent Doug Smith was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 40 Incumbent Roy Cooper was first elected in 2012.
General election
District 41 Incumbent Jordan Maynor was appointed in 2021.
General election
District 42 Incumbent Brandon Steele was first elected in 2018.
General election
District 43 Incumbent Christopher Toney was first elected in 2018.
General election
District 44
General election
District 45
General election
District 46 Incumbent Michael Honaker was appointed in 2021.
General election
District 47 Incumbent Todd Longanacre was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 48 Incumbent Caleb Hanna was first elected in 2018.
General election
District 49 Incumbent Heather Tully was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 50 Incumbent Austin Haynes was first elected in 2020, and defeated by Democrat David Elliott Pritt in 2022. Pritt later changed his party affiliation to Republican, increasing the GOP's House majority to 89.
General election
District 51 Incumbent Tom Fast was first elected in 2020.
General election
District 52 Incumbent Larry Rowe was first elected in 1996, before leaving the chamber and returning in 2014.
General election
District 53