It’s almost over!
That seems to be the dominant feeling swirling around the 2026 Republican Primary.
Almost to a man (or woman), people I have spoken to about this primary have all expressed the same sentiment – they can’t wait until it is over.
That is not that unusual to hear from the candidates, the media covering the election, or your average resident. Running for office is difficult. Campaigning can be exhausting. Meanwhile, voters have grown weary of the advertisements invading their social media, mailboxes, televisions, and radio.
This is especially true this year, in what has become one of the most contentious and expensive primary elections anyone can remember. That is certainly true for a Republican Party that has had the majority in both chambers of the legislature since 2014.
As of May 8, seven Political Action Committees had poured $4.97million into the legislative primary races. Most of that money came from PACs associated with Governor Patrick Morrisey and funded by out-of-state interests.
Morrisey-associated PACs have spent nearly $3 million on legislative races, flooding voters with campaign material, often attacking their political opponents.
The attacks being levied in the ads would lead you to believe West Virginia voters were at a crossroads, forced to pick between a staunch conservative and a radical liberal. One mailer that stood out informed me that this particular candidate “will have my back” when the radical left comes for my guns.
Good to know.
I just wish someone could tell me who the radical left is in West Virginia and where they are coming from.
Many of the attack ads may be technically true, but lack any context or nuance and mislead the voters. Pointing out a candidate’s record, for instance, opposing Governor Morrisey’s $250 million tax cut plan, is certainly fair game. However, it misleads the voter when that same candidate voted in favor of a $150 million tax cut in the most recent legislative session and previously voted for the largest income tax cut in the state’s history.
With that context, the voter gets a very different perspective of the candidate, a perspective that is purposefully omitted from campaign rhetoric.
The purpose of the mailers and other campaign materials attacking candidates is to motivate supporters to go to the polls. Chris Stirewalt pointed out in a 2022 article he penned for the American Enterprise Institute that the political parties are “very much arranged around the idea of motivation over persuasion.”
He continued to point out that the parties have created an atmosphere that “has pushed previously apathetic voters into action.”
Will it work?
It’s hard to say.
Recent polling by State Navigate looked at several key senate races and determined that most of them are neck and neck battles.
Secretary of State Kris Warner reported that early voting totals were actually about 8 percent higher than early turnout for the last off-year primary in 2022.
At least by this time Wednesday, it will all be over… for now.
