1996 West Virginia gubernatorial election

The 1996 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1996 to elect the Governor of West Virginia. Republican Cecil Underwood, who had previously been the Governor of West Virginia from 1957 to 1961, defeated Democratic State Senator Charlotte Pritt. Concurrently, the state voted the opposite way federally, choosing Democratic U.S. Presidential nominee, incumbent Bill Clinton over Republican nominee Bob Dole in the Presidential election that year.

1996 West Virginia gubernatorial election

← 1992 November 5, 1996 2000 →

Nominee Cecil Underwood Charlotte Pritt Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 324,518 287,870 Percentage 51.6% 45.8%

County results Underwood:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Pritt:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Gaston Caperton Democratic Elected Governor Cecil Underwood Republican

Pritt was the first woman to secure the West Virginia gubernatorial nomination of either of the two major political parties. This was the last election in which a Republican was elected Governor of West Virginia until 2020. Former Republican Jim Justice was elected in the 2016 election as a Democrat and later switched back to the Republican Party seven months into his term, making him the first Republican governor since 2001 when Underwood left office. As of 2023, this is the last time that the winning Republican gubernatorial nominee was not an incumbent Governor of West Virginia.

• 1 Democratic primary
  • 1.1 Candidates
• 2 Republican primary
  • 2.1 Candidates
• 3 Results
• 4 References
• 5 See also

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