Run for State Office

Stop the Data Centers

You need to run for office. The State Senate and the House of Delegates need people who care for the people of West Virginia. Many of our current delegates and senators simply don’t care about you.

Logan, Mingo, and Tucker County residents are fighting the construction of data centers. In Mason County, residents are speaking out against a massive industrial sight. But the state House and Senate passed a bill that makes it all but impossible for local authorities to do anything about these proposed centers. Even the fact that these industries are being built near schools doesn’t bother our elected officials.

I used to think you had to be smart to be a senator or delegate. I was wrong about that.

The requirements to run for the West Virginia House and Senate are:

“Candidates for state office must file a Certificate of Announcement with the Secretary of State’s Office to be on the ballot in West Virginia. No person, except citizens entitled to vote, shall be elected or appointed to any state office.”

Residency requirements for the House are that you’ve been a resident of district or county one year prior to election. And for the senate, you must be a resident of West Virginia for five years prior to election and a resident of district or county one year prior to election.

You have to be at least 18 years old for the House, 25 for the Senate. You don’t have to be smart, well-spoken, a lawyer, a doctor, a professor, a college graduate, a high-school graduate, a man, good looking or rich. You can be a coal miner, a waiter, a mechanic, a minister, a magician, a hairdresser, or whatever. Do not feel like you are not qualified because of your social status.

It does get tricky if you already work for the state, but otherwise it is wide open.

It costs $100 upfront to run for the West Virginia House of Delegates, $200 to run for Senate.

It doesn’t matter what side of the political divide you live in. You should consider running for office if you are passionate about the needs of fellow West Virginians.

Around forty people ran unopposed in WV House races in the 2024 election. That means almost half of all our delegates faced no opposition. They don’t have to worry about caring for citizens because they don’t have to worry about being voted out of office.

Seven Senate races were unopposed, by my count. That’s about one-quarter of the seats.

Don’t let these people get off that easy.

Run for State Senate or the House of Delegates.

If you are a Republican who cares about your neighbors, but you don’t believe your Senator or Delegate does, run against them in the primary. According to the WV Secretary of State website, a dismal 30.49% of West Virginia voters turned out for the primary election in 2024. In 2022 it was almost 23%.

The 6^th House District Republican primary winner won by 33 votes. Several primary races were decided by fewer than 250 votes. Do you know 33 people who like you better than the person currently serving your district? Can you convince 250 people in your district who didn’t vote in the 2024 primary election that you can help them if they vote in 2026?

If you win the Republican primary in most districts in West Virginia you are almost a shoo-in to win in the general election. If you are a goodhearted, neighbor-loving, clean water wanting, pro-affordability Republican embarrassed by our current state government, please step up and run.

We the People of West Virginia can do something. Our US senators and representatives, and our governor, tend to be from the political aristocracy and the super wealthy. They are backed by national donors and special interest groups. There’s not much we can do to unseat them. But these state legislative seats are winnable. We could change how our state government responds to the needs and wishes of West Virginia citizens if 40-some people of any political party would make the bold move of running against uncontested senators and delegates.

We could stop these data centers if 50 people who believe that the state government should not be allowed to ignore the wishes of local residents would run for office. If 50 good people would run, Republican or Democrat, against unopposed candidates we could lower our power bills, feed our children, and pay our teachers what they deserve.

Go to https://sos.wv.gov/elections/Pages/default.aspx, the website for the WV Secretary of State to find out more about running. There is naturally paperwork, laws, and some banking math involved, but it’s less complicated than you think.

Candidates running in 2026 must file a Certificate of Announcement between Monday, January 12, 2026, and midnight on Saturday, January 31, 2026.

Something very similar to this was published in the WV Gazette-Mail 11/28/25. I disagreed with one or two of the edits, but otherwise it is the same piece… and they edited it very well.

All right y’all, that’s it for this.

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Bil Lepp is a professional storyteller and is available for storytelling, classroom and corporate events. He does workshops, too!