Republican Party of West Virginia
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West Virginia Republican Party
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|---|---|
| Chairman | Conrad Lucas |
| Headquarters | PO Box 2711 Charleston, WV 25330 |
| Ideology | Conservatism Fiscal conservatism Social conservatism |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Colors | Red |
| United States Senate delegation |
1 / 2
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| United States House of Representatives delegation |
3 / 3
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| Executive offices |
4 / 6
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| West Virginia Senate |
22 / 34
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| West Virginia House of Delegates |
63 / 100
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| Website | |
| www |
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The West Virginia Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in West Virginia. As of 2012, it is headed by Conrad Lucas, State Chairman.
The state party platform is similar to the national platform in that the party fervently supports the coal industry against the efforts of liberal progressive efforts through the bureaucrat powered EPA, supports a patient's right to choose medical care in lieu of the ObamaCare mandates, the right to bear arms, advocates the parents' right to choose their child's education, and upholds traditional marriage, and the right to life.
The party favors the elimination of personal property tax on equipment and machinery. It favors reducing gasoline tax and corporate net tax to the 6% national average. It also favors the Fair Tax Act.
The Republican Party arose in 1854. The Democratic Party was an advocate of slavery and the Republican Party opposed it. There was a lot of turmoil in Virginia with the rise of the Republican Party. When the Civil War reached Western Virginia, there was a rise in violence against those who opposed slavery. In May 1861, people traveled to Richmond, Virginia to vote on secession of the state. Many Republicans had to leave the city because of the threats. Those who fled and others who lived in Western Virginia went to Wheeling to create their own government and began creating a new state, in which they were successful.
The Civil War helped the Republican Party gain recognition in the state. The Civil War in West Virginia often split families apart. The Boggs family lived in Pendleton County and one son was the head of the Confederate County Court while another son was the head of the Union Home guards in the north. Today, the northern party of Pendleton County is still strongly Republican. Republicans in Hampshire and Hardy counties left after the war to form Mineral and Grant counties, which are still primarily Republican. Republicans held the control in the state until the 1870s and the Confederates began voting and holding offices. In the 1870s, the party was so weak that it endorsed a Democratic governor.
Major Nathan Goff Jr. restructured the party. He was able to get the party to raise money and voters and recruit leaders. He led the party until the 1880s. He ran for governor in 1888 and won. The Republicans were the dominant party until the Great Depression. Since the Depression, Democrats have controlled the state.
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Wikipedia