2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election

The 2011 West Virginia gubernatorial election was a special election held on October 4, 2011 to fill the office of the West Virginia Governor. The office became vacant upon the resignation of Governor Joe Manchin, who was elected to fill the seat of Robert Byrd in the United States Senate in 2010 following Byrd's death. Lieutenant Governor and Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, first in the line of succession, became acting governor in 2010 after Manchin took up the Senate seat. On January 18, 2011, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that a special election for the office of Governor must be held so a new Governor can be in place by November 15, 2011, exactly one year after Manchin resigned.[1] The primary election was held on May 14. Tomblin and Republican Bill Maloney won their respective primaries.[2]

For related races, see 2011 United States gubernatorial elections.

2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election
October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04)
 
Nominee Earl Ray Tomblin Bill Maloney
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 149,202 141,656
Percentage 49.6% 47.0%
County results
Tomblin:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Maloney:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election

Earl Ray Tomblin (acting)
Democratic

 Elected Governor

Earl Ray Tomblin
Democratic

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Tomblin defeated William Maloney by a slim margin and received a majority of votes. He notably carried over 90% of the vote in his home county of Logan County. Tomblin was declared the winner of the election by the Associated Press on October 4, 2011 and was inaugurated on November 13, 2011.[3][4] With a margin of 2.5%, the special election was the closest race of the 2011 gubernatorial election cycle.

Democratic primary

Declared

Declined

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Jeff
Kessler		 Arne
Moltis		 John
Perdue		 Natalie
Tennant		 Rick
Thompson		 Earl Ray
Tomblin		 Other/
Undecided
Public Policy Polling May 11–12, 2011 742 ± 3.6% 4% 1% 11% 17% 20% 33% 12%
Public Policy Polling April 21–24, 2011 590 ± 4.0% 5% 1% 17% 16% 15% 32% 14%

Primary results
Democratic primary results by county:
  Kessler—40–50%
  Kessler—60–70%
  Perdue—<40%
  Perdue—40–50%
  Tennant—<40%
  Thompson—40–50%
  Thompson—60–70%
  Tomblin—<40%
  Tomblin—40–50%
  Tomblin—50–60%
  Tomblin—60–70%
  Tomblin—80–90%
Democratic primary results[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Earl Ray Tomblin (incumbent) 51,348 40.4%
Democratic Rick Thompson 30,631 24.1%
Democratic Natalie Tennant 22,106 17.4%
Democratic John Perdue 15,995 12.6%
Democratic Jeff Kessler 6,665 5.2%
Democratic Arne Moltis 481 0.4%
Total votes 127,111 100.0%

Republican primary

Declared

Declined

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Clark
Barnes		 Mitch
Carmichael		 Ralph
Clark		 Cliff
Ellis		 Larry
Faircloth		 Betty
Ireland		 Bill
Maloney		 Mark
Sorsaia		 Other/
Undecided
Public Policy Polling May 11–12, 2011 314 ± 5.5% 8% 4% 1% 0% 6% 31% 32% 4% 14%
Public Policy Polling April 21–24, 2011 274 ± 5.9% 8% 8% 2% 1% 2% 31% 17% 4% 28%

Primary results
  Maloney
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Ireland
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  Barnes
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60-70%
  •   70-80%
  Faircloth
  •   30–40%
Republican primary results[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bill Maloney 27,871 45.0%
Republican Betty Ireland 19,027 30.7%
Republican Clark Barnes 5,891 9.5%
Republican Mark Sorsaia 3,177 5.1%
Republican Larry Faircloth 2,400 3.9%
Republican Mitch Carmichael 2,073 3.3%
Republican Ralph Clark 1,164 1.9%
Republican Cliff Ellis 283 0.5%
Total votes 61,886 100.0%

General election

Candidates

Predictions
Source Ranking As of
Rothenberg Political Report[25] Lean D November 4, 2011
Governing[26] Lean D November 4, 2011
Cook[27] Lean D November 4, 2011
Sabato[28] Likely D November 4, 2011

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Earl Ray
Tomblin (D)		 Bill
Maloney (R)		 Undecided
Public Policy Polling September 30 – October 2, 2011 932 ± 3.2% 47% 46% 7%
Public Policy Polling September 1–4, 2011 708 ± 3.7% 46% 40% 14%
Public Policy Polling May 11–12, 2011 723 ± 3.6% 45% 30% 25%
Public Policy Polling April 21–24, 2011 850 ± 3.4% 56% 23% 21%

Results
West Virginia gubernatorial special election official results, 2011[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Earl Ray Tomblin (incumbent) 149,202 49.55% -20.26
Republican Bill Maloney 141,656 47.05% +21.32
Mountain Bob Henry Baber 6,083 2.02% -2.44
Independent Marla Ingels 2,875 0.95%
American Third Position Harry Bertram 1,111 0.37% +0.37
write-in candidate Phil Hudok 76 0.03%
write-in candidate Donald Lee Underwood 54 0.02%
write-in candidate John R. "Rick" Bartlett 27 0.01%
Margin of victory 7,546 2.51% -41.57%
Total votes 301,084 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

References
  1. Sobel, Julie (January 18, 2011). "Court Orders West Virginia Special Election This Year". National Journal. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  2. Catanese, David (May 14, 2011). "Tomblin, Maloney win in West Virginia - David Catanese". Politico.Com. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  3. "News from The Associated Press". Hosted.ap.org. October 5, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  4. Kaull, April. "Earl Ray Tomblin Sworn in as W.Va. Governor - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports". Wowktv.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  5. Forbes, Jim (October 28, 2010). "State Sen. Jeff Kessler Eyes W.Va. Governor's Mansion". WTRF-TV. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  6. Mannix Porterfield (February 13, 2011). "14 candidates for W.Va. governor ready to fight for the office". The Register-Herald. Beckley, West Virginia.
  7. Dickerson, Chris (October 6, 2010). "Perdue names former Dem chair to head campaign". Charleston Daily Mail. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  8. King, Joselyn (February 10, 2011). "Tennant Jumps Into Race For Governor". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  9. Dickerson, Chris (November 3, 2010). "Thompson says he'll be on gubernatorial ballot". West Virginia Record. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  10. Knezevich, Alison (January 8, 2011). "W.Va. governor race begins". The Charleston Gazette. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  11. "Brooks McCabe to Run For Governor". WOWK-TV. August 27, 2010. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  12. "Charlotte Pritt says she won't run for governor". Charleston Daily Mail. February 12, 2011. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  13. Archived September 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  14. Simmons, Ben (October 5, 2010). "Barnes will seek governor's seat". The Inter-Mountain. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  15. Edwards, Jeremy (December 30, 2010). "Betty Ireland Announces Run for Governor". WSAZ-TV. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  16. "Candidate field for governor grows to 7". Associated Press. February 2, 2011. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  17. McVey, John (January 20, 2011). "Capito is pleased with special election decision". The Journal. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  18. Bissett, Jim (January 30, 2011). "Jon McBride says he's not running again". The Dominion Post. McClatchy-Tribune (MCT). Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011 – via Charleston Daily Mail.
  19. "Raese Not Running". West Virginia MetroNews. February 7, 2011. Archived from the original on March 15, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  20. Mancini, Jess (February 1, 2011). "Stuart not running for governor". The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  21. Archived October 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  22. Jared Hunt (May 3, 2011). "Mountain Party selects gubernatorial candidate". Charleston Daily Mail. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  23. "2011 Write-in Candidates for Governor". Archived from the original on March 30, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  24. "2011 Candidates for Governor". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  25. "Gubernatorial Ratings | Inside Elections". www.insideelections.com.
  26. "An Update on the 2011-2012 Gubernatorial Contests". Governing. July 25, 2011. Archived from the original on August 1, 2011.
  27. "2011/2012 GOVERNORS RACE RATINGS". The Cook Political Report. September 15, 2011. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011.
  28. "2012 Governor". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 29, 2012.
  29. "WV SOS - Elections - Election Results - Online Data Services".
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