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Boley announces retirement from West Virginia Senate

Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, is escorted by her son, Brian Boley, to the front of the Senate chambers in January 2024 where a resolution honoring her was unanimously adopted. Boley, the longest-serving senator in state history, announced her retirement this morning. (File photo)

CHARLESTON – Nearly 41 years after she was first appointed, Senate President Pro Tempore Donna Boley is stepping aside to focus on her health and to spend more time with her family.

In a letter submitted to Senate President Randy Smith Thursday, Boley, 90, said she was resigning effective immediately.

“It is with a heavy, but grateful, heart that I submit to you my resignation from the West Virginia Senate,” said Boley, R-Pleasants. “It has been the honor of my life to represent Pleasants County and the Third Senatorial District for more than 40 years. I would not have been able to do that without the support of my constituents, who chose to elect me 11 times.”

Speaking by phone Thursday morning, Boley said she was unable to serve the regular legislative session beginning Wednesday, Jan. 14, due to needing to travel frequently for physical therapy.

“After the session last year, I started taking physical therapy at Morgantown,” Boley said. “That lasts about two or three months. I just think I need to spend more time doing what the therapist people tell me. I was concerned about driving to Charleston back and forth each week. … I’m 90 years old, and I just think it’s time to step down.”

Boley also said she wants to spend more time with her family, including her two great-granddaughters Emmie and Ellie.

“They come over here a lot in the summertime, so I’ll see them over here,” she said.

Boley represents the 3rd District, which includes Pleasants, Wood, Wirt and Ritchie counties. She was first appointed to the Senate on May 14, 1985, succeeding former Sen. Sam White. She later won election to fill the remainder of White’s four-year term in 1986 and was elected to a full four-year term in 1988. Boley has been returned to the Senate 11 times, including in 2024, and was unopposed in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

Boley served as the Senate minority leader between 1990 and 1996. During a two-year period between 1991 and 1992, she was the lone Republican in the 34-member Senate.

After the 2014 general election saw the Republican caucus grow to 16 members and a Democratic state senator switched parties, the GOP came into the 2015 legislative session with a 17-member majority. Since that time, Boley has served as Senate president pro tempore, a position traditionally reserved for the most senior member of the majority party. Boley also chaired the Senate Confirmations Committee and served previously as vice chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.

“It’s hard to find the words to honor a person like Sen. Donna Boley,” said Smith, R-Preston, in a statement Thursday. “For more than 40 years, she chose to serve the people of West Virginia with a dedication and energy that few could ever match. She stood as a strong conservative voice in the Senate, even when she was the only conservative voice.

“Her institutional knowledge and her ability to work with all people – no matter their politics – is an inspiration to us all,” Smith continued. “She’s truly one of a kind. I’m blessed to not only call her my fellow senator, but my friend. We will miss her every day, but I am so happy to know my friend Donna will be enjoying her retirement surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren she loves so much.”

Boley has been active in local, state and national Republican Party politics. Her roles have included chairing the Pleasants County Republican Executive Committee and the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee, and she was one of the state’s two Republican National Committee members.

Boley has also been active with Pleasants County Republican Women and the West Virginia Federation of Republican Women. She has frequently served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and had active roles in the state on the presidential campaigns for former President George W. Bush, the late former U.S. Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. and U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney.

“I cannot say enough great things about Senator Donna Boley,” said U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., the daughter of the late Gov. Arch Moore. “She was appointed to the state Senate by my dad in 1985, so she has served for a very long time and served honorably and bravely.

“She’s a strong woman,” Capito continued. “She’s a great mentor to me to be able to see someone who at one point was the only Republican in the state Senate in West Virginia where she was chairman of every committee and the minority leader at the same time. So, I think that tells everybody – men and women – that a strong woman can do anything when she sets her mind to it because that’s what Donna Boley did.”

The Republican Executive Committee for the 3rd Senatorial District will need to meet and decide on three Republicans to submit to Gov. Patrick Morrisey. The governor would then select from those three names the individual who will succeed Boley.

Morrisey praised Boley in a statement Thursday afternoon.

“Senator Boley’s dedication to her constituents, her steady leadership, and commitment to public service have left a lasting mark on our state,” he said. “Through the decades, she earned the trust of West Virginians and served with integrity. I thank Senator Boley for her extraordinary service. West Virginia is stronger thanks to her contributions.”

As she ends her storied legislative career, Boley provided some advice for her successor.

“Stay up with your constituency,” Boley said. “Listen to them and be involved wherever you can.”

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