2000 West Virginia gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2000 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2000 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Republican governor Cecil Underwood ran for re-election to a second consecutive term in office, but was defeated by Democratic U.S. Representative Bob Wise. Concurrently, the state voted for the opposite party federally, choosing Republican nominee, George W. Bush over Democratic nominee Al Gore in the presidential election that year. To date, this is the last time in which an incumbent West Virginia Governor lost re-election.

2000 West Virginia gubernatorial election

November 7, 2000

Nominee Bob Wise Cecil Underwood Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 324,822 305,926 Percentage 50.1% 47.2%

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

Governor before election Cecil Underwood Republican Elected Governor Bob Wise Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Jim Lees, attorney and candidate in 1996
• Bob Wise, U.S. Representative

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Wise	174,292	63.1
	Democratic	Jim Lees	101,774	36.9
Total votes			275,976	100.0

Republican primary

Governor Cecil Underwood was easily re-nominated in the Republican primary, defeating three other candidates by a wide margin.

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cecil Underwood (incumbent)	87,190	80.9
	Republican	Joseph Oliverio	11,590	10.8
	Republican	Donna H. McCase	5,902	4.5
	Republican	Larry Eugene Butcher	3,117	2.9
Total votes			107,799	100.0

General election

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 18, 2000

Results

West Virginia gubernatorial election, 2000

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bob Wise	324,822	50.12%	+4.32%
	Republican	Cecil Underwood (incumbent)	305,926	47.21%	−4.42%
	Mountain	Denise Giardina	10,416	1.61%	+1.61%
	Libertarian	Bob Myers	5,548	0.86%	−1.71%
	Natural Law	Randall Ashelman	1,301	0.20%	+0.20%
	Write-in		34	0.01%	N/A
Total votes			648,047	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic gain from Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Barbour (Largest city: Philippi)
• Boone (largest city: Madison)
• Calhoun (Largest city: Grantsville)
• Gilmer (Largest city: Glenville)
• Jackson (Largest city: Ravenswood)
• Lewis (Largest city: Weston)
• Mason (Largest city: Point Pleasant)
• Randolph (Largest city: Elkins)
• Roane (Largest city: Spencer)
• Taylor (Largest city: Grafton)
• Harrison (Largest city: Clarksburg)
• Marion (largest city: Fairmont)
• Putnam (largest municipality: Hurricane)