The short version
West Virginia nominates partisan candidates through the May primary. You get on the ballot by filing a Certificate of Announcement and paying the filing fee during the January filing period. Primary winners and minor-party/independent candidates advance to November.
- Offices you can run for
- Federal (U.S. House and Senate); statewide offices (Governor and other state officials); the West Virginia Senate and House of Delegates; county offices; and (nonpartisan) judicial seats.
- How to get on the ballot
- File a Certificate of Announcement of Candidacy with the filing fee — statewide, legislative, multi-county, and non-magistrate judicial candidates file with the Secretary of State; county and local candidates file with the county clerk. The fee is due at filing or the submission is rejected. The 2026 Running for Office Guide lists the fees and deadlines.
- Who runs candidate filing
- West Virginia Secretary of State — Elections Division
This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice. Filing deadlines and fees change every election cycle and vary by office — the official West Virginia resources below are the final word. When in doubt, the elections authority is right and we're wrong.
Official West Virginia candidate resources
Start here for the exact deadlines, fees, forms, and signature counts for your office and cycle.
Once you're on the ballot, Motion51 runs your field game.
Get your district's voter file loaded, cut into walkable turf, and onto an app your volunteers use at the door. West Virginia is fully available — see how to get your voter file.
Talk to us about your West Virginia race
Tell us what you're running for and we'll help you go from "qualified" to "knocking doors" — voter file loaded, turf cut, volunteers set up.