The West Virginia Senate is losing two giants with the resignation of Senate President Pro Tempore Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, and the retirement at the end of 2026 of Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell.

Boley, 90, has been a state senator since her appointment by the then-Gov. Arch Moore in 1985 and has remained there for 41 years and through 11 elections. She has been a force in West Virginia Republican politics and played a large role in slowly turning West Virginia into a red state.

She’s the longest serving state senator in West Virginia history and at one point was the lone Republican in the 34-member body. That made her minority leader by default and also the ranking Republican member of all Senate committees, allowing her to pick and choose which committee meetings she attended and providing her opportunities for input in legislation.

Much of Boley’s work in the Senate was focused on education and seeing improvements in educational attainment. She was passionate about seeing West Virginia’s students succeed. I can attest to this, because as a young high school student, Boley mentored me and other classmates of mine. It was that mentorship that was a catalyst for my love of politics.

When the Republicans took the majority in the Senate for the first time since the 1930s, Boley became the president pro tempore, a position held by the most senior member of the majority party. She also chaired the Senate Confirmations Committee, which vets gubernatorial appointments.

But on Wednesday, Boley submitted her resignation, choosing to focus on her physical therapy and spend more time with her family, especially her great-granddaughters. I talked with her by phone last week and she sounded at peace with her decision.

Boley is a proud St. Marys resident. And again, Boley and Jack, her late husband, were very good to me when I was growing up. West Virginia is a small state, and it is sometimes hard to cover politicians from your hometown. Boley has always had a place in my heart. She will definitely be missed in the Senate.

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Woelfel will still be in the Senate for this session and through the remainder of 2026, but he will not seek re-election for a fourth four-year term.

Much like how Boley was at one point the only Republican in the Senate, Woelfel took office the first year the Democratic caucus lost the majority in 2015, and now is part of a two-member minority caucus.

Until he ran for election in 2014, Woelfel was never a politician, choosing to focus on the profession of law. He never expected to be one of the last Democratic members of the Senate more than a decade later. But even as his caucus has shrunk from 15 to two, over the last decade, Woelfel has both been able to work across the aisle but also stand up against the Republican supermajority.

Woelfel has never been afraid to speak out, but members of the West Virginia press received a preview last Friday at the West Virginia Press Association’s annual Legislative Lookahead of how Woelfel will be during the 2026 legislative session beginning this week. Woelfel came out forcefully against Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s proposal for additional cuts to personal income tax rates

“We’re going to cut taxes for the donor class? We’re going to cut the taxes for the high earners? Really,” Woelfel asked.

Look, I’m a former state Senate communications staffer who had the privilege of working for both Republicans and Democrats for between 2013 and 2017. And I enjoy good floor debates, no matter who is giving the speech. Woelfel, much like Boley, is a lion in the Senate and he is capable of giving forceful speeches that make members of both parties listen.

Woelfel might be outnumbered, but he will spend his final year in the Senate fighting the good fight.

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One big takeaway from Friday’s Legislative Lookahead was that, unlike the Republican caucus in the House of Delegates, the GOP caucus in the state Senate appears to have no real goals for the legislative session.

Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, was unable to attend Friday, with Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Amy Grady, R-Mason, appearing in his place and naturally emphasizing the education initiatives she wants to focus on. But state Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, joined the legislative leadership panel table.

The former Senate Finance Committee chairman and one of two other senators who tried for the Senate GOP caucus nomination for president – losing to Smith in a December 2024 vote – told reporters his caucus had no agenda a mere five days out from the start of the session.

“I’ll tell you that the Senate Republican majority has no consensus on an agenda at all,” Tarr said. “I expect a bit of a free-for-all, because that’s extremely odd, and I’m frustrated by that.”

So, is that true? My colleagues and I have been curious for a while about the radio silence from the Senate. We usually have some clue as to policy priorities by this point. But Grady never once contradicted Tarr and also couldn’t specifically comment on anything outside of education priorities.

We have one more opportunity to hear from Smith Tuesday at the annual Charleston Regional Chamber of Commerce Issues and Eggs event regarding what his priorities are for the 2026 legislative session. But my advice for Smith would be next time, don’t shrug off attending the Legislative Lookahead.