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. State 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]

2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election
October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04)
 
Nominee Earl Ray Tomblin Bill Maloney
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 148,625 140,631
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

Elections in West Virginia
Federal elections
Presidential Elections
Presidential Primaries
U.S. Senate Elections
U.S. House Elections
Special elections
State government
General elections
Gubernatorial elections
Secretary of State elections
Senate elections
House of Delegates elections

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]

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 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

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
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

General election

Candidates

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[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Earl Ray Tomblin 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 Phil Hudok 76 0.03%
Write-in Donald Lee Underwood 54 0.02%
Write-in John R. "Rick" Bartlett 27 0.01%
Margin of victory 7,546 2.51% -41.57%
Total votes 301,084 100%
Democratic hold Swing

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 (2011-05-14). "Tomblin, Maloney win in West Virginia - David Catanese". Politico.Com. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  3. "News from The Associated Press". Hosted.ap.org. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  4. Kaull, April. "Earl Ray Tomblin Sworn in as W.Va. Governor - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports". Wowktv.com. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  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". 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 – Statehouse News – Charleston Daily Mail – West Virginia News and Sports". Dailymail.com. 2011-02-12. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  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. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  17. McVey, John (January 20, 2011). "Capito is pleased with special election decision". The Journal. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  18. Bissett, Jim (January 30, 2011). "Jon McBride says he's not running again". The Dominion Post. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  19. "Raese Not Running". West Virginia MetroNews. February 7, 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 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  24. "2011 Candidates for Governor". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
  25. http://apps.sos.wv.gov/elections/results/results.aspx?year=2011&eid=10&county=Statewide
Campaign websites (Archived)
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