2020 West Virginia Secretary of State election

See also: 2020 United States secretary of state elections

2020 West Virginia Secretary of State election

November 3, 2020

Nominee Mac Warner Natalie Tennant Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 447,537 320,650 Percentage 58.26% 41.74%

County results Precinct results Warner:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tennant:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      50%

Secretary of State before election Mac Warner Republican Elected Secretary of State Mac Warner Republican

The 2020 West Virginia Secretary of State election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the Secretary of State of West Virginia. It was held concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, along with elections to the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, as well as various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Mac Warner won re-election to a second term by a much larger margin than expected.^[1]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mac Warner, incumbent secretary of state^[2]

Withdrawn

• Tyrin Smith-Holmes^[2]

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Warner (incumbent)	176,915	100.0%
Total votes			176,915	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Natalie Tennent, former secretary of state (2009–2017)^[3]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Natalie Tennant	175,600	100.0%
Total votes			175,600	100.0%

General election

This race was viewed as competitive as Natalie Tennent was considered to be a strong candidate.^[4]

Debates

2022 West Virginia Secretary of State debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Mac Warner	Natalie Tennant
1	Sep. 17, 2020	West Virginia Public Broadcasting	Dave Mistich	YouTube	P	P

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Mac Warner (R)	Natalie Tennant (D)	Undecided
Triton Polling and Research/WMOV	October 19–21, 2020	544 (LV)	± 4.2%	51%	45%	5%
Triton Polling & Research/WMOV	September 29–30, 2020[b]	525 (RV)	± 4.3%	50%	43%	7%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[5]	Likely R	June 25, 2020

Results

2020 West Virginia Secretary of State election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Warner (incumbent)	447,537	58.26%
	Democratic	Natalie Tennant	320,650	41.74%
Total votes			768,187	100.0%
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Warner won all three congressional districts.^[7]

District	Warner	Tennant	Representative
1st	57%	43%	David McKinley
2nd	57%	43%	Alex Mooney
3rd	61%	39%	Carol Miller

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Additional data sourced from FiveThirtyEight

Partisan clients

References

1. REPORTS, STAFF (November 3, 2020). "AP: Mac Warner wins re-election as West Virginia secretary of state". WCHS. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
2. "2020 candidates file early in West Virginia". Retrieved March 3, 2024.
3. Mistich, Dave (November 14, 2019). "Democrat Natalie Tennant Announces She's Seeking Return As West Virginia's Secretary Of State". West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
4. "Warner-Tennant rematch for West Virginia Secretary of State". newsandsentinel.com/. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
5. "An Updated Look at Handicapping the 2020 Secretary of State Elections". Cook Political Report. June 25, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
6. "West Virginia Election Results". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
7. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=873980