In 2024, Republicans ran on a national platform of largely two things: stopping endless wars and lowering the historic levels of inflation brought on by the Biden administration’s reckless spending spree. Their cost-of-living message resonated deeply with voters, winning the GOP Congress and the White House.
Then the Republican-led federal government did something historians will likely study as a “what not to do” when it comes to governance: exactly the opposite of what they had promised voters.
They engaged in another overseas conflict, waged economically detrimental tariff policies that raised costs for consumers, and squandered a rare opportunity to pass long-promised reforms to bring down the cost of living. Republicans at the national level not only failed to live up to voters’ expectations, but they went back on their word entirely.
Fast forward to Election Night 2026, and Republican candidates across the country experienced what can only be described as wholesale repudiation, losing entire statehouses, governorships, and down-ballot races that fundamentally altered the landscape of American politics. Voters across the political spectrum sent a not-so-subtle reminder of their priorities to the Republican Party: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Even in deep-red West Virginia, Democrats gained 12 seats in the House of Delegates and 2 seats in the State Senate. But, unlike other now formerly red states, West Virginia Republicans held on to their statehouse supermajority. With their governing mandate still clearly intact, Republican lawmakers in the Mountain State have a generational opportunity to show the rest of the nation of how to tackle affordability the right way.
While newly minted blue states attempt to reboot the radical left’s failed tax-and-spend policies, West Virginia must show businesses and citizens that we remain committed to freedom, free markets, and pro-growth policies proven to help people thrive.
Americans are starting to vote with their feet like never before and, with fewer low-tax, pro-growth states to call home, the Mountain State’s stock has just gone way up. Thankfully, Republican lawmakers in the state gave themselves a significant advantage by laying the foundation of a decade’s worth of pro-growth policy wins.
In recent years, state lawmakers have returned nearly a billion dollars to taxpayers through personal income tax cuts. They cut needless red tape to get government out of the way of growth. They empowered parents like never before through robust school choice options, ensuring every child has access to the right education for them. Meanwhile, we are funding public education athistoric levels, including multiple pay raises for teachers.
We have made it easier than ever to bring qualified professionals to the state through universal recognition of licensure and ensure that workers can never be compelled to join a labor union under threat of losing their livelihoods. And finally, our state legislature has taken steps to safeguard ratepayers by telling data centers to pay their own way while repealing energy mandates that drove up prices for our families.
Those crucial reforms, and many others, are transforming West Virginia into a better place to live, work, and raise a family, even as we continue to face some of the starkest socioeconomic headwinds in the nation. That’s why voters have, election after election, rewarded West Virginia Republicans with supermajorities.
Sure, Democrats picked up some seats in our deep red bastion. However, before the 2026 midterm, Democrats only had a total of 11 seats in the entire state legislature. After a decade of gaining seats in every election, Republicans had no realistic room to grow. That, coupled with national frustration over the cost of living, massively bolstered democrats’ chances on Election Day.
Now, some on the left are attempting to convince Republicans in the state that reversing on their principles is politically advantageous. Nothing could be further from the truth. Democrats’ recent gains on Election Day aren’t a sign to change course; they’re a sign double down on the common-sense, pro-growth policies voters demanded.
Now is not the time to let the far left talk us out of winning. Our ideas are better than theirs. The task before this new legislature is to double down on its efforts to make life more affordable, increase economic opportunity, create jobs, and grow West Virginia’s population.
