West Virginia House of Delegates

The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states--Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia--refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates.

Membership

See Also: List of members of the 78th West Virginia House of Delegates

"2007-2009:"

The House is composed of 100 members elected for two year terms. Before the 2006 elections, Democrats controlled the House by a 68-32 margin. The elections resulted in Democrats gaining four seats in the House, upping their majority to 72-28.

In the 2004 election, 18 women were elected to the House, two less than in 2002. Female delegates hold a greater proportion of seats in the House than do female senators in the West Virginia Senate. However, the Census Bureau reports that females account for more than half of West Virginia's residents.

The House of Delegates' districting system divides the state into 58 districts that elect a varying number of members. The majority of districts, 35, are single-member districts. 23 districts are multi-member constituencies, varying from two to seven (the 30th District in Kanawha County) delegates.

Some have claimed that districts are gerrymandered in such a way as to preserve the status quo. Republicans have called for 100 single-member districts, with the districts representing compact areas of common interests.

peaker

The Speaker of the House is selected by its members. In contrast to the tradition of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker must vote unless excused. The House rules state that in some cases, he or she is not required to vote unless the House is equally divided, or unless his vote, if given to the minority, will make the division equal. In the latter case, the question is lost.

As of the 2^nd Session of the 78^th Legislature, Richard Thompson serves as Speaker of the House, a position he has held since January 2007 (78^th Legislature). He is the 55th Speaker of the House of Delegates succeeding Robert S. Kiss (D-Raleigh Co.).

House of Delegates Leadership

*Speaker of the House
**Richard Thompson (D), Wayne Co., 17th District
*Speaker Pro Tempore
**Ron Fragale (D), Harrison Co., 41st District
*Majority Leader
**Joe DeLong (D), Hancock Co., 1st District
*Minority Leader
**Tim Armstead (R), Kanawha Co., 32nd District
*Majority Whip
**Mike Caputo (D), Marion Co., 43rd District
*Minority Whip
**Larry Border (R), Wood Co., 9th District

Members of the 78^th West Virginia House of Delegates

Alphabetical List of Members in the House of Delegates

*Jon Amores (D-30th District)
*William Anderson (R-8th District)
*Troy Andes (R-14th District)
*Sam J. Argento (D-35th District)
*Tim Armstead (R-32nd District) - "Minority Leader"
*Bob Ashley (R-11th District)
*Tom Azinger (R-10th District)
*Larry W. Barker (D-18th District)
*Robert D. Beach (D-44th District)
*J.D. Beane (D-10th District)
*Craig P. Blair (R-52nd District)
*Brent Boggs (D-34th District)
*Larry Border (R-9th District)
*Bonnie Brown (D-30th District)
*Richard Browning (D-22nd District)
*Mike Burdiss (D-22nd District)
*Thomas A. Campbell (D-28th District)
*Samuel J. Cann, Sr. (D-41st District)
*Ray Canterbury (R-28th District)
*Mike Caputo (D-43rd District) - "Majority Whip"
*Mitch Carmichael (R-12th District)
*Daryl Cowles (R-51st District)
*Kevin J. Craig (D-15th District)
*Gerald L. Crosier (D-26th District)
*Joe DeLong (D-1st District) - "Majority Leader"
*John Doyle (D-57th District)
*Walter E. Duke (R-54th District)
*Jeff Eldridge (D-19th District)
*John N. Ellem (R-10th District)
*Timothy R. Ennis (D-2nd District)
*Allen V. Evans (R-48th District)
*Barbara Evans Fleischauer (D-44th District)
*Ron Fragale (D-41st District) - "Speaker Pro Tempore"
*Eustace Frederick (D-24th District)
*Nancy Peoples Guthrie (D-30th District)
*Mike Hall (R-14th District)
*Bill Hamilton (R-39th District)
*William G. Hartman (D-37th District)
*Barbara Hatfield (D-30th District)
*Lidella Wilson Hrutkay (D-19th District)
*Tal Hutchins (D-3rd District)
*Richard J. Iaquinta (D-41st District)
*Lynwood "Woody" Ireland (R-7th District)
*Melvin Kessler (D-27th District)
*Orphy Klempa (D-3rd District)
*K. Steven Kominar (D-20th District)
*Patrick Lane (R-32nd District)
*Marshall Long (D-25th District)
*Linda Longstreth (D-43rd District)
*Tom Louisos (D-29th District)
*Virginia Mahan (D-27th District)
*Tim Manchin (D-43rd District)
*Charlene Marshall (D-44th District)
*Dale Martin (D-13th District)
*Harold Michael (D-47th District)
*Tim Miley (D-41st District)
*Carol Miller (R-15th District)
*Jonathan Miller (R-53rd District)
*Clif Moore (D-23rd District)
*Jim Morgan (D-15th District)
*Ricky Moye (D-27th District)
*John Overington (R-55th District)
*Corey L. Palumbo (D-30th District)
*Brady Paxton (D-13th District)
*Don Perdue (D-17th District)
*David G. Perry (D-29th District)
*David Pethtel (D-5th District)
*John Pino (D-29th District)
*Daniel Poling (D-10th District)
*Mary M. Poling (D-40th District)
*Thomas Mike Porter (R-25th District)
*Bill Proudfoot (D-37th District)
*Doug Reynolds (D-16th District)
*Victor A. Roberts, Jr. (R-53rd District)
*Ralph Rodighiero (D-19th District)
*William R. Romine (R-6th District)
*Ruth Rowan (R-50th District)
*Robert A. Schadler (R-49th District)
*Pattie Eagloski Schoen (R-14th District)
*Stan Shaver (D-46th District)
*Alex Shook (D-44th District)
*Kelli Sobonya (R-16th District)
*Sharon Spencer (D-30th District)
*Margaret Anne Staggers (D-29th District)
*Douglas Stalnaker (D-38th District)
*W. Richard Staton (D-22nd District)
*William Stemple (D-33rd District)
*Dale Stephens (D-16th District)
*Linda Sumner (R-27th District)
*Randy Swartzmiller (D-1st District)
*Robert C. Tabb (D-56th District)
*Joe Talbott (D-36th District)
*Jeffery L. Tansill (R-42nd District)
*Richard Thompson (D-17th District) - "Speaker of the House"
*Kenneth Tucker (D-4th District)
*Scott Varner (D-4th District)
*Ron Walters (R-32nd District)
*Carrie Webster (D-31st District)
*Danny Wells (D-30th District)
*Harry Keith White (D-21st District)
*Larry A. Williams (D-45th District)
*Locke Wysong (D-58th District)
*Jack Yost (D-2nd District)
*vacancy (D-27th District)

ee also

*List of members of the 78th West Virginia House of Delegates
*List of members of the 77th West Virginia House of Delegates
*List of Speakers of the West Virginia House of Delegates

External links and references

* [http://www.legis.state.wv.us West Virginia Legislature] - official site
* [http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Educational/publications/legis_women.pdf Chronology of Women] in the West Virginia Legislature