CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Republicans are looking to take advantage of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s popularity in West Virginia and win some statewide offices that have been held by Democrats for decades.
West Virginia hasn’t sided with a Democrat for president since Bill Clinton in 1996. His wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, struggled for support in the coal-reliant state and lost to Bernie Sanders in the May primary, when Trump was already the presumptive GOP nominee.
Republicans are seeking historic wins in races for auditor, treasurer and agriculture commissioner. Democratic auditor candidate Mary Ann Claytor also is trying to become the first black person elected to a statewide office in West Virginia history.
In the attorney general’s race, Republican incumbent Patrick Morrisey is seeking a second term and faces Democrat Doug Reynolds.
Here is a look at the statewide races:
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ATTORNEY GENERAL
Incumbent Morrisey has said he would only serve two terms if elected.
Reynolds spent 10 years in the Legislature, worked as an assistant prosecutor and currently is CEO of a regional engineering and construction firm.
The race has been contentious and expensive. Funded by business interests, including the pharmaceutical industry, the Republican Attorneys General Association has spent about $6.8 million on ads aiding Morrisey. Reynolds has used about $2.8 million of his own wealth in the contest.
Morrisey called Reynolds a liar and a liberal who donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2007.
Reynolds fired back that Morrisey is swayed by the pharmaceutical industry, which has employed his wife as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., while West Virginia has been one of the worst states for drug abuse. Denise Morrisey stopped doing work as a lobbyist for Cardinal Health in May.
Before Morrisey won election in 2012, Democrats had held the office since 1933.
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AUDITOR
Claytor faces Republican state Delegate JB McCuskey of Charleston in the auditor’s race.
Claytor earned an upset victory for the Democratic nomination over Jason Pizatella, who was Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s former acting secretary of administration.
Six-term incumbent Glen Gainer III, a Democrat, stepped down in May 14 to take a private sector job.
A Republican state auditor hasn’t been elected since 1928.
Franklin Cleckley became the first black state Supreme Court justice when he was appointed by Gov. Gaston Caperton to fill a vacancy in September 1994. He spent 27 months on the bench and decided not to run for election.
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TREASURER
Democrat John Perdue, West Virginia’s longest-serving state treasurer is seeking his sixth term. He faces Republican Charleston bank executive Ann Urling.
No Republican has served as state treasurer since Ronald Pearson was appointed in 1975 after Democrat John H. Kelly resigned. Pearson lost an election bid the following year.
A Republican hasn’t been elected state treasurer since 1928.
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AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER
Walt Helmick is seeking his second term and will face Republican state Sen. Kent Leonhardt in a rematch of the 2012 race.
Helmick is the last remaining Democratic elected agriculture commissioner in the country - only 12 states actually elect them.
The last Republican state agriculture commissioner was Cleve Benedict, who was elected in 1988 and served a four-year term.
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SECRETARY OF STATE
Democratic incumbent Natalie Tennant is going after her third term and will face retired military attorney and veteran Mac Warner of Morgantown.
Tennant has touted her office’s efforts to modernize elections through online voter registration.
Warner comes from a prominent Republican family. One brother is former state GOP chairman Kris Warner, another is former gubernatorial candidate Monty Warner, and a third is Kasey Warner, a former U.S. attorney in the state’s Southern District.
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