Reopen West Virginia's Republican Primary to Unaffiliated Voters in 2028
The Issue
West Virginia’s Republican primary is now closed to unaffiliated voters, even though nearly 30% of West Virginia’s registered voters are affiliated with neither of the two major political parties.
For decades, unaffiliated West Virginians were permitted to request a Republican ballot and participate in the Republican primary. Many of these voters are conservative, independent-minded citizens who support constitutional freedoms, limited government, fiscal responsibility, the Second Amendment, traditional values, and many of the principles championed by the Republican Party.
The first election following the closing of the Republican primary produced numbers that should concern every Republican who wants to grow our party and increase voter participation.
According to official West Virginia Secretary of State election results comparing the 2022 and 2026 Republican primaries:
Republican votes cast in comparable House of Delegates races declined by 28,812.
Republican votes cast in State Senate races declined by 17,983.
That represents a combined decline of 46,795 Republican votes cast across House and Senate primary contests compared with 2022.
Of 92 directly comparable House districts, 70 experienced a decline in Republican primary votes — approximately 76% of the districts examined.
Those numbers demonstrate that the decline was not limited to one candidate, one county, or a handful of races. It was broad.
At the same time, thousands of unaffiliated West Virginians who had previously been permitted to participate in the Republican primary were shut out of the process. We cannot expect those voters to cheerfully support Republicans in the general election when they were told "we don't need you anymore" in the primary election.
This petition respectfully asks the West Virginia Republican State Executive Committee to restore the previous policy and once again allow unaffiliated voters to request a Republican ballot beginning with the 2028 primary election.
Republicans should be working to persuade more West Virginians to support our candidates and our principles — not reducing the number of people who can participate.
A stronger Republican Party is built by bringing conservative voters in — not locking them out.
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The Issue
West Virginia’s Republican primary is now closed to unaffiliated voters, even though nearly 30% of West Virginia’s registered voters are affiliated with neither of the two major political parties.
For decades, unaffiliated West Virginians were permitted to request a Republican ballot and participate in the Republican primary. Many of these voters are conservative, independent-minded citizens who support constitutional freedoms, limited government, fiscal responsibility, the Second Amendment, traditional values, and many of the principles championed by the Republican Party.
The first election following the closing of the Republican primary produced numbers that should concern every Republican who wants to grow our party and increase voter participation.
According to official West Virginia Secretary of State election results comparing the 2022 and 2026 Republican primaries:
Republican votes cast in comparable House of Delegates races declined by 28,812.
Republican votes cast in State Senate races declined by 17,983.
That represents a combined decline of 46,795 Republican votes cast across House and Senate primary contests compared with 2022.
Of 92 directly comparable House districts, 70 experienced a decline in Republican primary votes — approximately 76% of the districts examined.
Those numbers demonstrate that the decline was not limited to one candidate, one county, or a handful of races. It was broad.
At the same time, thousands of unaffiliated West Virginians who had previously been permitted to participate in the Republican primary were shut out of the process. We cannot expect those voters to cheerfully support Republicans in the general election when they were told "we don't need you anymore" in the primary election.
This petition respectfully asks the West Virginia Republican State Executive Committee to restore the previous policy and once again allow unaffiliated voters to request a Republican ballot beginning with the 2028 primary election.
Republicans should be working to persuade more West Virginians to support our candidates and our principles — not reducing the number of people who can participate.
A stronger Republican Party is built by bringing conservative voters in — not locking them out.
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Petition created on August 21, 2026