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Your current IP address is 8.222.208.146. </p> <div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><div style="font-size: 16px;"> <p>Even while globally blocked, you will <i>usually</i> still be able to edit pages on <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/" class="extiw" title="m:">Meta-Wiki</a>. </p> </div> <div class="paragraphbreak" style="margin-top:0.5em"></div><div style="font-size: 16px;"> <p>If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/No_open_proxies" class="extiw" title="m:Special:MyLanguage/No open proxies">No open proxies</a> global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Steward_requests/Global" class="extiw" title="m:Steward requests/Global">post a request for review on Meta-Wiki</a>. You could also send an email to the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Stewards" class="extiw" title="m:Special:MyLanguage/Stewards">stewards</a> <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/VRT" class="extiw" title="m:Special:MyLanguage/VRT">VRT</a> queue at <kbd>stewards@wikimedia.org</kbd> including all above details. </p> </div> <p>Other useful links: <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_blocks" class="extiw" title="m:Global blocks">Global blocks</a> · <a href="/wiki/Help:I_have_been_blocked" title="Help:I have been blocked">Help:I have been blocked</a> </p> </div></li></ul><hr /> <div id="viewsourcetext">You can view and copy the source of this page:</div><textarea readonly="" accesskey="," id="wpTextbox1" cols="80" rows="25" style="" class="mw-editfont-monospace" lang="en" dir="ltr" name="wpTextbox1">==Governance== {{Main|Law and government of West Virginia|West Virginia Constitution}} [[File:The West Virginia Capitol in Charleston LCCN2015631770.jpg|thumb|right|The [[West Virginia State Capitol]] in [[Charleston, West Virginia|Charleston]] is home to the [[West Virginia Legislature]].]] ===Legislative branch=== {{Further|West Virginia Legislature}} The West Virginia Legislature is [[bicameral]]. It consists of the [[West Virginia House of Delegates|House of Delegates]] and the [[West Virginia Senate|Senate]], both housed in the [[West Virginia State Capitol]]. It is a citizen's legislature, meaning that legislative office is not a full-time occupation, but rather a part-time position. Consequently, the legislators often hold full-time jobs in their community of residence. Typically, the legislature is in session for 60 days between January and early April. The final day of the regular session ends in a bewildering fury of last-minute legislation to meet a constitutionally imposed midnight deadline. During the remainder of the year, monthly interim sessions are held in preparation for the regular session. Legislators also gather periodically for 'special' sessions when called by the governor. The title of [[Lieutenant governor (United States)|Lieutenant Governor]] is assigned by statute to the [[Lieutenant Governor of West Virginia|senate president]]. ===Executive branch=== {{Further|List of Governors of West Virginia}} The governor, elected every four years on the same day as the U.S. presidential election, is sworn in during the following January. Governors of West Virginia can serve two consecutive terms but must sit out a term before serving a third term in office. The title of [[Lieutenant governor (United States)|Lieutenant Governor]] is assigned by statute to the [[Lieutenant Governor of West Virginia|senate president]]. West Virginia's current governor is [[Jim Justice]]. ===Judicial branch=== {{Further|Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia}} West Virginia is one of 27 states that do not have a [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty]], and it was the only state in the southeastern United States to have abolished it until 2021, when [[Capital punishment in Virginia|Virginia]] did so as well. For the purpose of courts of general jurisdiction, the state is divided into 31 judicial circuits. Each circuit is made up of one or more counties. Circuit judges are elected in non-partisan elections to serve eight-year terms. West Virginia's highest court is the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the busiest appellate court of its type in the United States. West Virginia is one of 11 states with a single appellate court. The state constitution allows for the creation of an intermediate court of appeals, but the Legislature has never created one. The Supreme Court is made up of five justices, elected in nonpartisan elections to 12-year terms. West Virginia is an [[alcoholic beverage control state]], but unlike most such states, it does not operate retail outlets, having exited that business in 1990. It retains a monopoly on wholesaling of [[Distilled beverage|distilled spirits]] only. ===Politics=== {{Main|Elections in West Virginia|Political party strength in West Virginia}} [[File:Senator Joe Manchin, Secreatry Perry, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and U.S. Rep. David McKinley at NETL (34999869724).jpg|thumb|From left, Senator [[Joe Manchin]], Energy Secretary [[Rick Perry]], Senator [[Shelley Moore Capito]], and Representative [[David McKinley]] (2017) |upright=1.25]] At the state level, West Virginia's politics were largely dominated by the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] from the [[Great Depression]] through the 2000s. This was a legacy of West Virginia's very strong tradition of union membership.<ref name="slate.com">{{cite journal|last=Woodruff |first=Betsy|date=October 29, 2014|title=Goodbye West Virginia |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/10/republicans_are_turning_west_virginia_red_how_the_democrats_lost_control.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721085311/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/10/republicans_are_turning_west_virginia_red_how_the_democrats_lost_control.html|archive-date=July 21, 2017|journal=Slate|quote=But by 2000, tectonic changes in the state’s politics were underway. West Virginians tended to be economically liberal but socially conservative, and as social issues like abortion came to the forefront in national politics, the state started looking better for Republicans. The leftward tilt of the national Democratic Party helped matters, too.}}</ref> After the 2014 midterm elections Democrats controlled the governorship, the majority of statewide offices, and one U.S. Senate seat, while Republicans held one U.S. Senate seat, all three of the state's [[U.S. House]] seats, and a majority in both houses of the [[West Virginia Legislature]]. In the 2016 elections, the Republicans held on to their seats and made gains in the State Senate and gained three statewide offices.<ref>{{cite news | title=The Latest: GOP maintains majority in West Virginia Senate | url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article113238573.html | date=November 9, 2016 | newspaper=[[Miami Herald]] | access-date=November 9, 2016 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110111716/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article113238573.html | archive-date=November 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last1=McElhinny | first1=Brad | title=W.Va. Republicans celebrate Trump win and GOP gains | url=http://wvmetronews.com/2016/11/09/w-va-republicans-celebrate-trump-win-and-gop-gains/ | date=November 9, 2016 | publisher=[[West Virginia MetroNews]] | access-date=November 10, 2016 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110161351/http://wvmetronews.com/2016/11/09/w-va-republicans-celebrate-trump-win-and-gop-gains/ | archive-date=November 10, 2016}}</ref> Since [[2000 US Presidential Election|2000]], West Virginians have supported the Republican candidate in every presidential election. The state is regarded as a [[Red states and blue states|"deep red"]] state at the federal level.<ref name="slate.com" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/democrats-getting-destroyed-key-senate-142414525.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory|title=Democrats Are Getting Destroyed In Key Senate States|website=yahoo.com|date=March 4, 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202084343/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/democrats-getting-destroyed-key-senate-142414525.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory|archive-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref> In [[2012 US Presidential Election|2012]] Republican [[Mitt Romney]] won the state, defeating Democrat [[Barack Obama]] with 62% of the vote to 35% for Obama. In the 2016 presidential election, Republican [[Donald Trump]] won the state with 67.86% of the popular vote, with West Virginia giving him the highest vote share of any state.<ref name="Leip, David">{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|title=General Election Results—West Virginia|publisher=United States Election Atlas|access-date=November 18, 2016|author=Leip, David|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709214827/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|archive-date=July 9, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia|2008 presidential election]] was the last to date in which the Democratic nominee won any of the state's counties. {| class=wikitable ! colspan="4" | Voter registration as of October 18, 2024<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sos.wv.gov/elections/Pages/VoteRegTotals.aspx |title=West Virginia Voter Registration Totals |publisher=West Virginia Secretary of State |access-date=March 3, 2023 }}</ref> |- ! colspan = 2 | Party ! Total voters ! Percentage |- | {{party color cell|Republican Party (US)}} | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | align=center | 498,536 | align=center | 41.22% |- | {{party color cell|Democratic Party (US)}} | [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | align=center | 354,446 | align=center | 29.30% |- | {{party color cell|Independent politician}} | [[Independent voter|Unaffiliated]] | align=center | 302,170 | align=center | 24.99% |- | {{party color cell|Other parties (US)}} |[[List of political parties in the United States|Minor parties]] | align=center | 54,315 | align=center | 4.49% |- ! colspan = 2 | Total ! align=center | 1,209,467 ! align=center | 100.00% |} Evangelical Christians comprised 52% of the state's voters in 2008.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=WVP00p1 |work=CNN |title=Local Exit Polls—Election Center 2008—Elections & Politics from CNN.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605132422/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=WVP00p1 |archive-date=June 5, 2010}}</ref> A poll in 2005 showed that 53% of West Virginia voters are [[anti-abortion]], the seventh highest in the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2005/50StateAbortion0805SortedbyProLife.htm |title=SurveyUSA - 50 State Abortion 0805 Sorted by Pro Life |publisher=SurveyUSA.com |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221052419/http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2005/50StateAbortion0805SortedbyProLife.htm |archive-date=February 21, 2010 }}</ref> A 2014 poll by Pew Research found that 35% of West Virginians supported legal abortion in "all or most cases" while 58% wanted it to be banned "in all or most cases".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/views-about-abortion/by/state/ |title=Views about abortion by state |publisher=Pew Research Center|work=2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study |access-date=October 11, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012014543/http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/views-about-abortion/by/state/ |archive-date=October 12, 2018}}</ref> A September 2011 [[Public Policy Polling]] survey found that 19% of West Virginia voters thought [[same-sex marriage]] should be legal, while 71% thought it should be illegal and 10% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 43% of West Virginia voters supported the legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 17% supporting same-sex marriage, 26% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 54% favoring no legal recognition and 3% not sure.<ref>{{cite press release |title=WV against gay marriage, for Tea Party, Steelers, Reds/Bucs |date=September 15, 2011 |publisher=Public Policy Polling |url=http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_WV_0915.pdf |access-date=September 20, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723060028/http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_WV_0915.pdf |archive-date=July 23, 2012}}</ref> In 2008, 58% favored troop withdrawal from Iraq while just 32% wanted troops to remain.<ref>{{cite web |title=West Virginia: McCain 45% Obama 38% |date=September 25, 2008 |website=Rasmussenreports.com |publisher=Rasmussen Reports |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/west_virginia/west_virginia_mccain_45_obama_38 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301004702/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2008/2008_presidential_election/west_virginia/west_virginia_mccain_45_obama_38 |archive-date=2012-03-01 |url-status=deviated}}</ref> On fiscal policy in 2008, 52% said raising taxes on the wealthier individuals would benefit the economy, while 45% disagreed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Election 2008: West Virginia Presidential Election|website=Rasmussenreports.com|publisher=Rasmussen Reports |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/west_virginia/election_2008_west_virginia_presidential_election |date=October 21, 2008 |access-date=July 31, 2010 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516201617/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/west_virginia/election_2008_west_virginia_presidential_election |archive-date=May 16, 2010}}</ref> In a 2020 study, West Virginia was ranked as the 16th hardest state for citizens to vote in.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=J. Pomante II |first1=Michael |last2=Li |first2=Quan |title=Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020 |journal=Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy |date=December 15, 2020 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=503–509 |doi=10.1089/elj.2020.0666 |s2cid=225139517 |doi-access=free }}</ref> </textarea><div class="templatesUsed"></div><p id="mw-returnto">Return to <a href="/wiki/West_Virginia" title="West Virginia">West Virginia</a>.</p> <noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks catlinks-allhidden" data-mw="interface"></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Virginia&action=edit&section=33&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-57488d5c7d-rmt2c","wgBackendResponseTime":262,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.059","walltime":"0.082","ppvisitednodes":{"value":418,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":17740,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":6556,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":9,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":469,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 58.201 1 -total"," 99.88% 58.131 2 Template:Blocked_text"," 41.05% 23.889 1 Template:Colocationwebhost"," 40.80% 23.743 2 Template:Replace"," 36.75% 21.388 1 Template:Hidden"," 15.50% 9.020 1 Template:Hidden_begin"," 14.46% 8.414 1 Template:Tlx"," 2.53% 1.475 1 Template:Hidden_end"," 2.17% 1.263 1 MediaWiki:Wikimedia-globalblocking-blockedtext-mistake"," 1.75% 1.018 1 MediaWiki:Wikimedia-globalblocking-blockedtext-mistake-email-steward"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.011","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":1043308,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-57488d5c7d-rmt2c","timestamp":"20241128001611","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> </body> </html>