Political and population statistics of West Virginia

[Al]

Hi, long time lurker, first time poster!

I've always been interested in my state's neighbors to the South. I wanted to start a new thread to hear some people's thoughts on the politics of West Virginia. I really don't know a lot about this, so I'm asking what parts of the state tend to be more Democratic than Republican, and vice versa, and why? What parts are experiencing population growth and where are the major cultural divides in the state (geographically-speaking)? Are there stark and polarized cultural regions that could be demostrated on a map (like, is the North of the state politically different and different population-wise than the South, how about the Eastern Panhandle, the Northern Panhandle, the center)?

What I'm basically asking for is help understanding the full political, geographic, and demographic profile of the state of West Virginia.

[ElectionsGuy]

Contact IceSpear, he'll have a full detailed profile for you!

[nclib]

Ironically, we have a regular poster who sometimes uses the name 'Al' and talks a lot about West Virginia.

[Al]

Contact IceSpear, he'll have a full detailed profile for you!

Could you direct me to them? I would be very interested to hear what they have to say.

[IceSpear]

Contact IceSpear, he'll have a full detailed profile for you!

Could you direct me to them? I would be very interested to hear what they have to say.

Trust me, no you don't.

[Antonio the Sixth]

There is no Al but Al. Please change your display name.

Anyway, have you been to the Atlas this forum is based on? It has a few election maps that might answer your questions. For example, here's the latest gubernatorial election:

[jimrtex]

There is no Al but Al. Please change your display name.

Anyway, have you been to the Atlas this forum is based on? It has a few election maps that might answer your questions. For example, here's the latest gubernatorial election:

I couldn't find any maps for Plaid West Virginia.

I had not realized that Romney carried every county in 2012.

This makes West Virginia unique, doesn't it? Manchin carried every county in 2008, which was the first time that a gubernatorial candidate had carried every county since 1952.

No wonder Hillary and Tim are going to put a lot of coal miners out of business.

[DINGO Joe]

About four years ago, for work related reasons I read quite a bit of WV media and became a bit too fascinated with the state, and since like many nerds here, I'm attracted to data, I know way too much (most of it unpleasant)about this state, and I'm going to provide way more info than you'll ever want.

Well, first a few basics.  WV is the third oldest state and has the highest death rate of any state--by far.  The top 7 for 2014 in descending order (rates per 100,000 population)

Pennsylvania--1004
Maine--1016
Kentucky--1016
Mississippi-1021
Arkansas-1027
Alabama--1036
West Virginia--1199

So, WV is really out there on it's own.  It's not just that WV is old (Florida is the oldest state but they get the cream of crop--healthier, wealthier, longer lasting old people) it's near the top of unhealthy states (Obesity, smoking, diabetes, etc). It has the highest disability rate.  It's the top state for deaths by overdose and accidental deaths.  WV is just a big ole death party.

So, on the flip side is the birth rate.  Again, WV is very unique in that, despite having the sixth highest teen birth rate, the overall birth rate is well below the national average.  A combination that seems quite unhealthy for personal development in a 1st world locale.

The combined effect of birth and death in WV is a negative natural population growth rate that is accelerating as boomers age and WV doesn't cope with it's health/societal issues.  In 2013, it was 1000 more deaths than births, 1800 in 2014 and 1800 just in the first 6 months of 2015 (preliminary data)

Now, a stark (and repetitive) regional difference should be noted.  The two eastern most counties in the panhandle--Jefferson and Berkeley--have a positive rate of 700 in 2013.  Eastern WV has no connection to coal, it's part of the I-81 corridor (and old wagon road) and exurban DC.  It's younger, healthier, more educated that the rest of WV (though it lags other parts of exurban DC) and growing.  It's a trend that has been going for decades now in WV.  In 1950, West Virginia's population peaked at 2,005,500 and Berkeley and Jefferson combined for 37,500.  The 2015 estimates have WV population at 1,844,000 and B and J combined for 168,500.  So, clearly the growth in East WV has masked the severity of the decline in coal WV over the decades. 

The other outpost of growth is Monongalia county home  of WV University.  Not uncommon for major state university to be a source of growth and despite having some mining in the county, Monongalia has gone from 61,000 in 1950 to 104,000 today.  Besides the university, it's home to Mylan Pharmaceuticals and a nearby county has the crown jewel of the Byrd federal era--the FBI crime labs which employ about 3000. 

Next (probably in a day or two) we'll look at the WV workforce, but here's a teaser:

[Al]

Oh wow, that is very detailed. I think I'm starting to carve out an idea in my mind of the nature of West Virginia. Excited for your addendum! It would be interesting to see how the balance of power in the state tips toward the Morgantown area and Eastern Panhandle. The possibility of changing the state's capital comes to mind.

Do you think those areas, given their burgeoning populations, could be the seeds for a potential revival of the state?

[jimrtex]

Oh wow, that is very detailed. I think I'm starting to carve out an idea in my mind of the nature of West Virginia. Excited for your addendum! It would be interesting to see how the balance of power in the state tips toward the Morgantown area and Eastern Panhandle. The possibility of changing the state's capital comes to mind.

Most of the WV cities are on the Ohio River (Huntington, Wheeling, Parkersburg). Morgantown is on the Monongahela before it flows north towards Pittsburgh. The eastern panhandle is quite isolated, and mainly in the state for strategic reasons during the Civil War since it is the mouth of the Shenandoah Valley. Comparatively, Charleston is quite central.

The Jefferson County was the plaintiff in the lawsuit over West Virginia's congressional district. I can't see what problem they would have with CD 2.

 

[DINGO Joe]

Oh wow, that is very detailed. I think I'm starting to carve out an idea in my mind of the nature of West Virginia. Excited for your addendum! It would be interesting to see how the balance of power in the state tips toward the Morgantown area and Eastern Panhandle. The possibility of changing the state's capital comes to mind.

Most of the WV cities are on the Ohio River (Huntington, Wheeling, Parkersburg). Morgantown is on the Monongahela before it flows north towards Pittsburgh. The eastern panhandle is quite isolated, and mainly in the state for strategic reasons during the Civil War since it is the mouth of the Shenandoah Valley. Comparatively, Charleston is quite central.

The Jefferson County was the plaintiff in the lawsuit over West Virginia's congressional district. I can't see what problem they would have with CD 2.

 

Maybe the Jefferson County plaintiff wanted to be attached to another state.  When WV goes to two districts, both panhandles will be in with Morgantown in the North District. 

Actually the Eastern panhandle has an ancestral Republican leaning (part of the old wagon road and Shenandoah Valley) that has been reinforced by a feeling than the state is dominated by coal interests especially in the South part of the state, which historically has been the Democratic base.  They feel they've been cheated on spending on things like roads, which is valid because the state (vs counties) bears an unusually large responsibility for roads compared to other states.

Jimtex noted many of the cities(none over 50,000) located on rivers which is where most cities form for commerce and ease of terrain reasons.  However, as a state with substantial mining, many WV communities were located in very difficult terrain to exploit the resource.  Frequently, only train access was available at first with roads coming along later.  Just as out West mining towns could become ghost towns were the mine was no longer economic, hundreds, if not thousands of WV communities have been taken back by the woods.

This very dense website has information on many of the communities that have dwindled or disappeared over the years.

http://www.coalcampusa.com/

While the communities may have dwindled or disappeared, the road network and the effort to provide electricity and other utilities still exist, but are very difficult to maintain given the terrain and the dwindling population.   It makes for considerable political conflict in a state with few financial resources.