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Craig Blair
Craig Blair (Republican Party) was a member of the West Virginia State Senate, representing District 15. He assumed office on December 1, 2012. He left office on December 1, 2024.
Blair (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the West Virginia State Senate to represent District 15. He lost in the Republican primary on May 14, 2024.
Blair served as state Senate president from 2020 to 2024.[1] In West Virginia, the state Senate president also serves as lieutenant governor.[2]
Biography
Blair graduated from the Residential and Industrial Electricity Course, the Machine Trades Course, and the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Course at James Rumsey Technical Institute in 1976, 1984, and 1988, respectively. He then graduated from the Water Treatment Specialist Course, the Water Disinfection/Reverse Osmosis Technologies Course, and the Ozone Technologies/Water Filtration Course at the Water Quality Association, International in 1993, 1996, and 1999, respectively.
Blair was a cook for Kentucky Fried Chicken from 1976 to 1977. He then worked as a Salesperson for Montgomery Wards from 1977 to 1978. From 1978 to 1986, he was a farmer for Rosemary Orchard. He then worked as a plant engineer for Cassco Ice/Reddy Ice from 1986 to 2003. Blair worked for Sunset Water Services as its president/owner starting in 1989. He also served as a certified water specialist for the Water Quality Association beginning in 1993. He was also a master electrician.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Blair was assigned to the following committees:
2021-2022
Blair was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Blair was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Banking and Insurance Committee
- Confirmations Committee
- Senate Education Committee, Vice-Chair
- Senate Finance Committee, Chair
- Senate Rules Committee, Vice-Chair
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| West Virginia committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Confirmations |
| • Economic Development |
| • Energy, Industry and Mining |
| • Finance |
| • Government Organization, Chair |
| • Rules |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Blair served on the following committees:
| West Virginia committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Rural Development |
| • Economic Development |
| • Energy, Industry and Mining |
| • Finance |
| • Government Organization, Chair |
| • Labor |
| • Rules |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Blair served on the following committees:
| West Virginia committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Finance |
| • Government Organization |
| • Interstate Cooperation |
| • Labor |
| • Economic Development |
| • Joint Government Organization |
2009-2010
While a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, Blair served on the following committees:
| West Virginia committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Constitutional Revision |
| • Energy, Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small Business |
| • Finance |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for West Virginia State Senate District 15
Tom Willis defeated Anthony Murray in the general election for West Virginia State Senate District 15 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tom Willis (R)  | 73.0 | 35,979 |
 | Anthony Murray (D) | 27.0 | 13,318 | |
| Total votes: 49,297 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 15
Anthony Murray advanced from the Democratic primary for West Virginia State Senate District 15 on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Anthony Murray | 100.0 | 2,846 |
| Total votes: 2,846 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 15
Tom Willis defeated incumbent Craig Blair and Michael Folk in the Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 15 on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tom Willis | 44.4 | 5,475 |
 | Craig Blair | 32.2 | 3,973 | |
 | Michael Folk | 23.4 | 2,885 | |
| Total votes: 12,333 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Blair in this election.
2020
See also: West Virginia State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for West Virginia State Senate District 15
Incumbent Craig Blair defeated Donald Kinnie in the general election for West Virginia State Senate District 15 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Craig Blair (R) | 80.1 | 41,560 |
| Donald Kinnie (Mountain Party) | 19.9 | 10,324 | ||
| Total votes: 51,884 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 15
Incumbent Craig Blair defeated Kenneth Mattson in the Republican primary for West Virginia State Senate District 15 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Craig Blair | 52.7 | 7,837 |
| Kenneth Mattson | 47.3 | 7,033 | ||
| Total votes: 14,870 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Mountain Party convention
Mountain Party convention for West Virginia State Senate District 15
Donald Kinnie advanced from the Mountain Party convention for West Virginia State Senate District 15 on June 20, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Donald Kinnie (Mountain Party) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
Elections for the West Virginia State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 10, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was January 30, 2016.
Incumbent Craig Blair defeated Brad Noll in the West Virginia State Senate District 15 general election.[3][4]
| West Virginia State Senate District 15, General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Craig Blair Incumbent |
70.44% | 32,475 | |
| Democratic | Brad Noll | 29.56% | 13,629 | |
| Total Votes | 46,104 | |||
| Source: West Virginia Secretary of State | ||||
Brad Noll ran unopposed in the West Virginia State Senate District 15 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| West Virginia State Senate District 15, Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Brad Noll (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Craig Blair defeated Larry Kump in the West Virginia State Senate District 15 Republican primary.[5][6]
| West Virginia State Senate District 15, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Craig Blair Incumbent |
67.82% | 9,702 | |
| Republican | Larry Kump | 32.18% | 4,604 | |
| Total Votes | 14,306 | |||
2012
Blair ran in the 2012 election for West Virginia State Senate, District 15. Blair ran unopposed in the May 8 primary election and won in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7][8][9]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Craig Blair |
80.8% | 28,766 | |
| Constitution | Daniel Litten | 19.2% | 6,847 | |
| Total Votes | 35,613 | |||
2010
Blair did not run for re-election to District 52 of the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2010.
Blair was defeated by incumbent Democrat John Unger for West Virginia Senate, District 16 in the November 2, 2010, general election. Blair was unopposed in the May 11 primary.[10][11][12]
| West Virginia State Senate, District 16 (2010) General Election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| John Unger (D)
|
18,800 | 50.43% | ||
| Craig Blair (R) | 18,482 | 49.57% | ||
| West Virginia State Senate, District 16 Republican Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Craig Philip Blair (R)
|
3,556 | 37.78% | ||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Craig Blair did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Craig Blair did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2012
Blair's website highlighted the following campaign themes::
Employment And Education
- "We will reduce bureaucratic waste and spend education dollars in the classrooms, not on state administrators."
- "We will allow local school boards more autonomy and grant greater flexibility."
Tax And Legal Reforms
- "We will fully and immediately eliminate the tax on food which will save the average family of four $156 per year."
- "We will have nonpartisan elections for judges."
Healthcare
- "We will offer tax incentives to employers who provide health care coverage to their employees, especially low wage earners."
- "We will promote health-care savings accounts, providing people a vested interest in their own well being."
Family
- "We will constitutionally protect current West Virginia law by defining marriage as a “union of one man and one woman” and reject any other states’ attempt to redefine marriage otherwise."
- "We will require parental notification before a minor child can receive an abortion and continue to promote polices that value all human life."
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of West Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
In 2024, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 9. A special session began on September 30 and adjourned on October 8.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on firearms issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2023, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 11.
|
2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2022, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 12 to March 12.
|
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2021, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from February 10 to April 10.
|
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2020, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 7.
|
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2019, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 9.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2018, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 10 through March 10.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from February 8 through April 9. The legislature held a special session from May 4 to June 26. The legislature held its second special session from August 1 to September 15.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 13 through March 12.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 14 through March 14.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the West Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 8 through March 10.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Intelligencer, "W.Va. House Announces Leadership Changes, State Senate Has Slight Changes," December 16, 2020
- ↑ West Virginia Legislature, "Office of the Senate President," accessed April 12, 2021
- ↑ West Virginia Secretary of State, "Candidate search," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ West Virginia Secretary of State, "2016 official general election results," accessed May 3, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 West Virginia Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing by Office," accessed January 30, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 West Virginia Secretary of State, "Statewide Results - Primary Election - May 10, 2016," accessed August 2, 2016
- ↑ WBOY.com, "West Virginia General Election Results November 6, 2012," accessed November 7, 2012
- ↑ West Virginia Secretary of State, "Statewide Results - General Election - November 6, 2012," accessed February 12, 2014
- ↑ West Virginia Secretary of State, "Statewide Results - Primary Election - May 8, 2012," accessed February 12, 2014
- ↑ West Virginia Red, "Exclusive: Delegate Craig Blair to Run for State Senate ," December 7, 2009
- ↑ West Virginia Secretary of State, "Official Primary Results," accessed April 30, 2014
- ↑ West Virginia Secretary of State, "2010 General Election results," accessed April 30, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
West Virginia State Senate District 15 2012-2024 |
Succeeded by Tom Willis (R) |
| Preceded by - |
West Virginia House of Delegates District 52 2002-2010 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||||||||||||
