West Virginia Lawmaker Leaves Democrat Party for GOP

A lawmaker in the West Virginia House of Delegates has switched allegiances from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, shrinking his former party’s presence in the state’s legislature.

Del. Elliott Pritt announced his party switch on Monday, bringing the balance of power in the House of Delegates to 89 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Pritt, who is in his first term, and won in a district previously held by a Republican, said he felt he needed to change parties “if I am to accurately represent my constituents and my people as well as my own conscience.”

“It has become more and more obvious that there is very little room in the party for traditional values or differences regarding political opinion-we are being pushed out,” Pritt wrote in a letter to Democratic House Minority Leader Doug Skaff and the dwindling Democratic Caucus in the House and posted on Facebook. “The values, beliefs, and way of life that the people of Southern West Virginia and Fayette County hold dear are no longer compatible with the trajectory of the Democratic Party.”

Pritt said he would continue to work with Democrats on issues of mutual interest “such as supporting working people, public education, clean water, and issues that will help grow wages and benefits for working-class West Virginians” but said he could no longer support or advocate for positions “that the vast majority of my constituents do not support.”

West Virginia Republican Party chairwoman Elgine McArdle welcomed Pritt’s party switch decision and, in a Monday statement, said, “Like so many West Virginians, Delegate Pritt has recognized that the Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that our parents grew up with.”

The West Virginia Democratic Party called Pritt a “human weathervane” after the party switch and noted Pritt had previously been a self-avowed Socialist Party USA member, then joined the politically progressive environmentalist Mountain Party of West Virginia, and finished last in a seven-way 2018 election before winning his 2022 election as a Democrat.

“Elliott Pritt’s decision reflects a lack of core values and honesty. West Virginians deserve reliable stewards of the public trust, not political hacks who flap in the breeze,” said West Virginia Democratic Party second Vice-Chair Sam Petsonk. “When Elliott grows disenchanted with the radical, self-centered, divisiveness of the GOP, and inevitably flops to another political home, voters should remember that political opportunism is not the stuff of which real leaders are made.”

Skaff said he is disappointed in Pritt’s decision to switch parties, adding, “It’s kind of odd that just a few w