Published: November 02, 2008 11:47 pm      

State Dems may have upper hand in races for Legislature

CHARLESTON — Both major parties expect to pick up seats in West Virginia’s Legislature on Tuesday.

But the Democrats appear better positioned to increase their majorities in both the state Senate and House of Delegates.

A lack of opposing candidates has left 48 legislative seats uncontested, out of 117 up this year. The Democrats will win 40 of those, including three in the Senate.

And even if no contested seats change hands on Tuesday, the Democrats will pick up one of 14 vacated seats in the House. That’s because no Republican ran to defend it. Democrat Mike Manypenny is the sole candidate to succeed departing Delegate Jeff Tansil, R-Taylor, in the 42nd District.

The Democrats are also favored to pick up at least one of three open Senate seats that had been held by the GOP. But of the four Democrat-vacated seats in that chamber, the Republicans did not run candidates for three of them.

The big Senate contests this year include the battle for the 1st District, where Sen. Andy McKenzie, R-Ohio, has been elected mayor of Wheeling. Delegate Jack Yost, D-Brooke, faces former Delegate Chris Wakim, R-Ohio. The latter loaned his campaign $50,000 to keep abreast of the Democrat, campaign filings show.

“He has been working extremely hard and has been spending a good bit of his own money,” said state GOP Chairman Doug McKinney. “I think he really wants that seat.”

Delegate Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, faces an underfunded Republican opponent, Bob Ore, in a race for a GOP-vacated 8th Senate District seat. Democrat Bob Williams has a money advantage as well over Republican Gary Howell for a Democrat-held, opening seat in the chamber’s 14th District.

McKinney also touted the chances of GOP nominee Bob Adams to hold the 16th District seat of a departing Sen. John Yoder, R-Jefferson. Adams faces a previous Democratic occupant, former Sen. Herb Snyder, who lost his party’s 2004 primary after a DUI arrest the previous year.

The most expensive Senate, and legislative, race this year is also a rematch. Former Sen. Mike Ross, a Democrat, has plowed more than $264,000 into regaining the seat he lost in 2004 to Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph. About half of Ross’ spending has been from personal funds.

The pricier House contests include the jockeying for the five seats representing the 27th Delegate District. Former lawmakers Sally Susman and Bill Wooton hope to return to the Legislature, via an opening Democrat-held seat and the one held by Delegate Linda Sumner, R-Raleigh. Of the two challenging Democrats, Susman has spent more than $138,000.

McKinney believes his party has a shot at taking seats from the Democrats in the seven-seat 30th Delegate District, representing Kanawha County.

The GOP chairman also expects a boost for his legislative and statewide candidates if John McCain carries the state, as recent polls indicate. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state by nearly 2-to-1.

“We’d like to see a lot of Democrats cross over and vote for McCain and then go down the ballot for some other candidates,” McKinney said. “A lot of people feel that that will happen.”

But state Democratic Party Chairman Nick Casey has been urging party members to vote a straight ticket as the Barack Obama campaign tries to close the gap in that race’s waning days. His party has also sought to bolster its legislative hopefuls with direct mail and radio ads attacking nine Republican candidates, eight of them incumbents. The targeted campaign has cost nearly $104,000, according to the latest filings.

Casey expects to spent $120,000 on the effort.

“We’ve identified people who, just from a broad perspective, we just don’t think are consistent with what West Virginians want,” Casey said. “The system would work better if these obstructionists were gone.”

Not that Democratic legislative candidates need the help: they have raised nearly four times as much funds and spent nearly three times as much since the May primary, an analysis of campaign finance reports posted by the secretary of state’s office shows.

Total legislative fundraising during the general election phase totaled $1.4 million as of Oct. 19. By that time, the 158 candidates who had filed reports listed spending that totaled $1.3 million.