2020 West Virginia gubernatorial election

2020 West Virginia gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →
 
Nominee Jim Justice Ben Salango
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 497,944 237,024
Percentage 63.49% 30.22%

Justice:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Salango:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Governor before election

Jim Justice
Republican

Elected Governor

Jim Justice
Republican

The 2020 West Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the governor of West Virginia, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Governor Jim Justice announced his 2020 re-election campaign on January 7, 2019.[1] Justice was elected in 2016 as a Democrat, but later switched back to the Republican Party at a campaign rally with Donald Trump.[2] Justice won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic Kanawha County commissioner Ben Salango. Justice's re-election made him the first Republican to be elected governor of West Virginia since Cecil Underwood in 1996. Additionally, Justice became the first incumbent Republican governor to win re-election since Arch A. Moore Jr. in 1972, as well as the first Republican to carry all counties in West Virginia. However, Justice performed worse than Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who outperformed Justice by 5.13 percentage points. Additionally, Salango slightly outperformed Biden by 0.53 percentage points. Justice's 33% margin is the largest margin for a Republican in West Virginia history[3]

  1. ^ Brown, Haley (January 7, 2019). "Governor Justice announces 2020 campaign". WVVA. Retrieved January 7, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "West Virginia Undergoing Political, Generational Change". New York Times. August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  3. ^ https://www.ourcampaigns.com/ContainerHistory.html?ContainerID=294