(Reporter's Notebook by Steven Allen Adams - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

As we get close to the start of the new year, the 2026 legislative session and the next election cycle, we’re seeing a lot of movement in the deck chairs.

For example, Del. John Williams, D-Monongalia, will challenge Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, in the 13th Senatorial District covering parts of Monongalia and Marion counties.

Of course, both will have to make it through their respective party primaries, which is likely. But a contest between Williams and Oliverio will mean at least one of them will not be returning to the statehouse after the November 2026 elections.

Oliverio, a former conservative Democratic state senator and candidate for Congress in 2010, returned to the state Senate four years ago as a Republican, defeating longtime Democratic House of Delegates member Barbara Fleischauer after former Democratic state senator Bob Beach decided to retire.

Williams, who I would consider to be a moderate Democratic House member, was first elected in 2018 and is in his fourth term in the House. Williams is particularly active on the House Finance Committee and vocal about the state budget and other fiscal matters.

Any race between Oliverio and Williams is going to be close. Oliverio won his 2022 race against Fleischauer by 153 votes in a 50.3% to 49.7% victory. Registered Democratic voters also maintain a slim majority in Monongalia County by 358 votes as of November, with 22,778 registered Democrats and 22,420 registered Republicans.

Registered Republicans now have the majority in Marion County with 13,170 voters compared to the Democratic Party’s 12,610 registered voters. However, the 13th District includes Fairmont, which is a Democratic Party stronghold. Regardless, this will be a close election no matter who wins.

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State Sen. Tom Takubo, a Republican from Kanawha County and the former Senate majority leader, has been hard at work recruiting more traditional, business-friendly candidates for contested state Senate seats for the 2026 election cycle. But now, former Kanawha County Republican delegate Chris Pritt could challenge Takubo in his GOP primary from his political right flank.

Pritt was in the House for two terms beginning in 2020 and ending in 2024. He was briefly a GOP candidate for secretary of state but switched to a primary run for the 17th Senatorial District, losing to former state senator Eric Nelson. Gov. Patrick Morrisey tapped Nelson as his Department of Revenue secretary at the beginning of 2025 and appointed former Charleston municipal court judge Anne Charnock as Nelson’s replacement.

This brings up a good question: Will Pritt challenge Takubo or Charnock? Takubo has one of 17 seats up in the Senate in 2026, but Charnock will have to defend her seat in a special election concurrent with the primary and regular election. Takubo would be hard to beat, but Charnock could be vulnerable being an appointed state senator.

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In other news, controversial Raleigh County Republican delegate Brandon Steele resigned from the House last week effective immediately. Steele told Lootpress (a Beckley-based online news publication that Steele is a co-owner of) that other opportunities have come up. We will see.

Steele was first elected to the House in 2018 and has been House Government Organization chairman and was nearly House Judiciary Committee chairman at the beginning of this year until actions last Christmas caused House Speaker Roger Hanshaw to rethink that appointment.

An anonymous source last January provided two 911 tapes from Brianne Steele, wife of Mr. Steele, from a Dec. 23, 2024, incident where Mr. Steele was reported to be drunk and brandishing weapons outside their Mabscott home.

According to an incident report by the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to Mr. Steele’s home on a report of an “intoxicated person” who was outside screaming, claiming someone was driving past his home, and armed with rifles. When deputies arrived, they found Mr. Steele with two AR-15 style rifles on his couch. However, no charges were ever filed.

In 2022, Steele had also challenged Hanshaw for the House Speaker’s gavel. Steele was known for his fiery floor speeches and hot temper. In 2020, Steele and another delegate were involved in a heated argument outside the Capitol Building that nearly came to blows.

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So, will members of the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee cave and allow independent and unaffiliated voters to vote in the Republican primary this May? They will have one last chance to reverse themselves at their annual winter meeting on Saturday, Jan. 10.

Yes, Republican Party voter registration keeps going up in West Virginia and Democratic Party voter registration keeps going down. But the number of people in the state registering as “no party” also keeps going up. New GOP candidates now have to educate voters on who they are AND remind them to register as Republicans by April 12, otherwise they can only vote in the Democratic primary or receive a nonpartisan ballot.

Republicans in the southern half of the state are particularly worried about disenfranchising independent voters, most of whom are former Democratic voters who lean conservative but haven’t made the party switch. I would expect an attempt by some state executive committee members to open their primary back up, but the die may already be cast.

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Finally, have yourselves a Merry Christmas!

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.