A group of Democrat voters gathered in a city hall basement, nibbling on appetizers off American-flag printed paper plates, and listening to a party official’s appeals to be active in politics. It was during this event that Terri Rodebaugh stood up to air a grievance.
“I’m tired of being called a baby killer, which I am not,” said Rodebaugh, her pink shirt contrasting her gray hair. These types of derogatory terms have become common for party faithful and pro-choice West Virginians like Rodebaugh in Nicholas county.
Voters in Nicholas county and West Virginia, in general, were solidly Democratic during most of the 20th century, but by 2020, nearly 78% of Nicholas county voters had cast their ballots for Donald Trump. This shift towards the Republican party was a first for this area, which had been reliable Democratic territory for many years.
Despite continuous efforts from the Democratic party, the landscape of West Virginian politics now seems to reflect the power shift. Joe Manchin, a two-term governor of West Virginia who won a Senate seat in 2010, has refused to support proposals by Joe Biden, generating immense controversy.
With Manchin deciding not to run for re-election in 2024, and the party facing a potential loss of all statewide elected offices, hope for a Democratic resurgence in West Virginia is at its lowest point. Party leaders are reluctant to give up, and while the odds are stacked against them, their commitment to the fight for West Virginians remains strong.
Throughout these transitions at the state level, advocacy groups and the White House spent months negotiating with Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on various proposals until Manchin announced that he wouldn’t support President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, citing the estimated $2tn cost and rising inflation. This was a significant blow for Democrats who had briefly held an effective majority in the Senate.
In the years leading up to Biden’s administration, the GOP played on a sense of abandonment among West Virginians to dismantle decades of Democratic control, using the message that the Democrats were waging a “war on coal”. Additionally, with Trump securing his largest share of support from West Virginia voters, the Republican party further cemented its hold on the state’s politics.
Even now, traditional strategies Democrats have used elsewhere to win elections in Republican states barely work in West Virginia. After the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, the GOP promptly moved to ban abortion, further solidifying their influence in the state, leaving Democrats struggling to regain lost ground.
