For several months I’ve asked the question: What would happen in November, the first general election since West Virginia Republicans closed their primary?
The election is over. The unofficial results are in. It’s time to assess and learn, with humility.
I have followed this issue for a long time, through a petition signed by hundreds of West Virginians and months of asking party leaders to look at the facts. So let us examine this case exhibit by exhibit.
Exhibit one is the May primary: Republican primary participation fell from 154,140 voters in 2022 to 126,365 in 2026 — a decline of 27,775. Votes cast for Republican legislative candidates fell by 46,795. Meanwhile, use of the nonpartisan ballot nearly quadrupled, rising from 5,620 to 21,576.
Thousands of voters who previously could participate in choosing Republican nominees no longer had that opportunity without changing their registration. Those numbers should have been a warning.
Exhibit two is the November general election: According to unofficial election results reported by the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, Republican candidates for the State Senate received 49,440 fewer votes than in 2022. Republican candidates for the House of Delegates received 63,961 fewer. Combined, that represents 113,401 fewer votes for Republican legislative candidates — even as Republican registration had grown substantially.
More Republicans on the rolls. Far fewer votes cast for Republican legislative candidates. That contrast deserves serious examination beyond the emotional responses I’ve received.
And early voting turnout certainly cannot explain away these concerns. Early voting increased approximately 24 percent over 2022, while participation among unaffiliated early voters increased approximately 31 percent. These citizens were participating in November, even though they had been excluded from the Republican primary in May.
Exhibit three is who was shut out: West Virginia now has approximately 356,000 registered voters outside the Republican and Democratic parties — nearly 30 percent of our electorate. Many are constitutional conservatives and independent-minded citizens who have simply chosen principle over a party label.
These are our neighbors, our coworkers, our fellow church members — and we closed the door on their participation in choosing Republican nominees.
Exhibit four may be the most overlooked potential outcome of all in the GOP closing its primary.
The closure did not eliminate the possibility of strategic party switching. It was promoted as protection against Democrats influencing Republican nominations. Yet between January 2024 and April 2026, nearly 17,000 registered Democrats changed their registration to Republican, making themselves eligible to participate in the Republican primary.
That does not establish why they changed registration or whether they subsequently voted. But it demonstrates that closing the primary does not create an ideological test. It simply creates a registration test.
In fairness, no single number proves that closing the primary caused every lost vote. Other factors influenced the 2026 election, and honesty requires acknowledging them. Differences in contested legislative races also matter when comparing consolidated vote totals.
But exhibit after exhibit raises the same concern. Unaffiliated voters helped Republicans build a majority in West Virginia. We cannot assume their continued support while excluding them from the process of choosing our nominees.
The goal of any political party should be to build a platform on which voters can feel good about supporting. Restricting unaffiliated or independent voters from that opportunity is political suicide.
Reopening is not complicated. It simply restores what West Virginia Republicans allowed for years: an unaffiliated voter could choose a Republican ballot on primary day. That is how it worked while we were building a majority. Parties grow by persuasion, not by padlock.
The conclusion is clear: We must reopen the West Virginia Republican primary.
But that alone may not be enough. We also owe the unaffiliated and independent voters of this state an apology. We told nearly a third of our fellow citizens that their voices were welcome in November but not in May. They were good enough to elect our candidates but not trusted to help choose them.
That was wrong, and saying so costs us nothing but pride.
Reopen the primary. Then let us earn those voters back, with representation, not registration tests.
That is how a party grows. That is how a majority is kept.
