Earlier this year, Doug Skaff was the highest-ranking Democrat in West Virginia’s House.
Now, Skaff has retired his seat and he’s running for secretary of state… as a Republican.
“We must work together on our shared West Virginia conservative values towards a common endeavor to Keep West Virginia Elections Safe and Secure,” Skaff said on his campaign website.
Skaff registered as a pre-candidate for the statewide office on Thursday. As a pre-candidate, he can start fundraising, and he must file campaign finance reports. A candidate isn’t officially in the race until they file a separate certificate of announcement and pay a filing fee sometime in January, during the filing period.
Skaff resigned his House seat from Kanawha County last month after stepping down as the chamber’s Democratic leader in August.
Skaff served in the House from 2009 to 2014 and was elected to the chamber again in 2018. He is president of HD Media, which owns the Charleston Gazette-Mail and several other state newspapers.
West Virginia leaders of both parties have voiced skepticism about Skaff’s party switch.
“The West Virginia Republican Party recognizes the philosophical nuances that can exist within the Party and welcomes those who genuinely believe in our cause,” state GOP chair Elgine McArdle said in a statement. “However, Republican voters are sometimes tasked with differentiating between ‘philosophical nuances’ and ‘diametric ideological opposition.'”
The GOP chair encouraged primary voters to remain mindful, and she added, “Skaff is labeling himself as a ‘Republican,’ despite his storied liberal record in the House.”
Meanwhile, the chair of the state Democratic Party accused Skaff of making a power-hungry ploy to compete for statewide office in a conservative state.
“I know Doug has long been intoxicated by the idea of winning a statewide office,” West Virginia Democratic Party chairman Mike Pushkin said in a statement. “Still, his candidacy could leave Republican primary voters with a hangover when they find out about his actual voting record. Nevertheless, we wish him well in all his affairs.”
Skaff has called his record “bipartisan,” and he maintains, “The office of Secretary of State CANNOT just work for Democrats or Republicans.”
West Virginia has seen some high-profile politicians switch parties lately. Jim Justice, the current governor, has changed parties twice. Elliott Pritt, another member of the statehouse, ran as a Democrat in 2022, unseated an incumbent Republican, and then became a Republican himself this year.
The GOP maintains an 89-11 majority in the statehouse.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.