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CHARLESTON -- With an election around the corner in November and with an eye toward the 2024 elections for president and governor, state and county leaders of West Virginia's Republican Party chose Elgine McArdle to lead them.
The West Virginia Republican Executive Committee held its summer meeting Saturday at the Charleston Town Center Marriott to select a new chairperson for a full four-year term.
McArdle, the chairwoman of the Ohio County Republican Executive Committee, won election with 80 votes, with former state party committee member Dolph Santorine receiving 27 votes. The vote was conducted by secret ballot with 110 members and proxy votes.
"Our party stands at a crossroad," McArdle said in her nomination speech. "Republicans now hold both the statehouse and all statewide constitutional offices, all congressional seats and one of the two United States Senate seats. But we will soon fix that."
"Our West Virginia Republican Party must function as a professional organization if we want to maintain our supermajority and defeat Joe Manchin in 2024," McArdle said.
Santorine and McArdle are locked in a legal battle. McArdle refused to seat Santorine after he won election to the Ohio County REC in May. Santorine sought election to the county party committee for the 2nd Magisterial District. Due to an error by the county, Santorine was placed in the 1st District.
"We are at our very best when we stand on the conservative principles that are the foundation of this party," Santorine said in his nomination speech. "The reason the West Virginia GOP exists is simple: to get Republicans elected. One of the great challenges of having supermajorities is how we keep them. The other side is just as smart and motivated as we are. And they're not nearly as restricted by ethics."
John McCutcheon, a former campaign manager for the 1996 campaign of the late Republican Gov. Cecil Underwood and the West Virginia campaign of former Republican President George W. Bush in 2000, also was nominated for state party chair, but he withdrew his nomination to support McArdle.
McArdle will succeed outgoing state party chairman Mark Harris, who declined not to seek a full term after he was accused last month by state party Executive Director John Findlay and other members of state party leadership of multiple incidents of alleged inappropriate behavior.
The specific allegations have never been made public. Harris has denied any wrongdoing and refused to resign prior to Saturday's state party meeting, but he said he would not seek a full four-year term.
Harris was elected as chairman last year, succeeding Melody Potter who stepped down in January 2021 for personal reasons. Harris bested former state party chairman Conrad Lucas during a March 2021 party Winter Meeting at the Greenbrier Resort after two close votes were held due to confusion over the first vote.
"I'm thankful for the work that you all did. I'm thankful for the work that you all will do," Harris said in remarks during Saturday's meeting. "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people; that's what we're fighting for. We're trying to fight the good fight here. It has been an excellent, excellent year in a thousand different areas. Please, pat yourselves on the back about that, because there's a lot to be thankful for."
McArdle is taking the reins of the party as it prepares for the Nov. 8 general election this fall. All 100 seats of the House of Delegates are up for election and for the first time there will be 100 single-member House districts instead of several multi-member districts. In the state Senate, 17 out of 34 seats are on the ballot. Party members hope to preserve the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate while also picking up more seats.
GOP leaders also have their eyes on 2024 to take back the presidency from either President Joe Biden or whomever Democratic voters nominate. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., also will be up for another six-year term, being the last elected statewide Democratic leader in the state. Gov. Jim Justice, the Democrat-turned-Republican businessman, is limited to two terms, leaving an open governor's seat in 2024 for future Republican candidates.
Republican voter registration in the state first exceeded Democratic voter registration in February 2021 for the first time since the Great Depression. According to the Secretary of State's Office, more than 37 percent of voters were registered Republican as of February 2021, with more than 36 percent registered as Democrats. As of last month, more than 38 percent of voters were registered as Republican with Democratic voter registration at more than 33 percent.
"Republicans now outnumber Democrats for the first time," McArdle said, quoting a basketball coach. "With this growth comes responsibility. Responsibility equals accountability, accountability equals ownership. And a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or an organization can have."