More than 68,000 West Virginia voters have changed their party affiliation since January 2024, with Democrats taking the biggest hit, according to new data from the state’s secretary of state.
West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner shared that 16,910 voters switched from Democrat to Republican since Jan. 31, 2024. Another 20,003 unaffiliated voters also moved to the GOP in the same period.
The numbers paint a clear picture. As of April 23, West Virginia’s voter rolls show 519,756 registered Republicans against 327,089 registered Democrats and 301,933 independents.
“This huge uptick in the last couple of months is certainly tied to the primary being closed,” said Del. Josh Holstein, chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, in comments to the Herald-Dispatch. “So I think it’s why a lot of those folks said, ‘Hey, I’ll just register Republican.'”
The state’s May 12 primary is a closed election, meaning only registered Republicans can vote in Republican contests and only registered Democrats in Democratic ones. Early in-person voting begins April 29 and runs through May 9.
The shift is part of a broader reshuffling. Some 12,299 Democrats left their party to become unaffiliated rather than switch directly to the GOP, and 7,559 Republicans also dropped their party affiliation. A smaller number, 5,211 voters, moved from unaffiliated to Democrat, and 2,399 switched from Republican to Democrat.
Del. Mike Pushkin, chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, acknowledged the movement but downplayed it in a statement to the outlet.
“Thousands of West Virginians are stepping away from party labels entirely, which reflects a broader frustration with politics as usual,” Pushkin wrote. “While Republicans have gained some voters, they are also losing thousands to ‘No Party,’ and many voters who re-engage are continuing to choose Democrats.”
Pushkin noted that the data covers 2024, when President Donald Trump ran for re-election and won every county in the state.
West Virginia has 1.19 million registered voters eligible to participate in the May 12 primary. Tuesday was the deadline to finalize voter rolls ahead of the election.
