Our project to calculate the 2020 presidential results for all 435 congressional districts nationwide hits West Virginia, a once solidly blue state that has become one of the most Republican areas in the country. You can find our complete data set here, which we're updating continuously as the precinct-level election returns we need for our calculations become available.
Donald Trump carried West Virginia 69-30, which was slightly narrower than his 69-26 victory in 2016, but he nevertheless scored more than 65% of the vote in all three congressional districts. Republicans have also controlled the state's trio of House seats since the 2014 elections. You can find a larger version of our map here.
Rep. David McKinley’s 1st District in northern West Virginia backed Trump 68-30, which was likewise just a small shift from his 68-26 win four years ago. Rep. Alex Mooney’s 2nd District in the center of the state, meanwhile, supported Trump 65-33 after going for the top of the ticket 66-29 in 2016.
Trump’s best showing in both of his races, though, was in Rep. Carol Miller’s 3rd District in the south, a once heavily Democratic area that routinely backed the party down-ticket into the early 21st century; Trump won 73-25 here, compared to 73-23 last time.
Below the presidential level, the 18 counties that make up the current 3rd District supported only a single Republican candidate for statewide office from 1930 until 2014, Republican Gov. Arch Moore in 1972. (West Virginia is one of just two states that doesn't split counties in congressional redistricting, along with Iowa.) Longtime Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall lost reelection in 2014, though, and as Trump’s performance shows, the area is now extremely hostile for Democrats.
Democrats controlled redistricting a decade ago, but they made minimal adjustments to the state's map and did little to stop the GOP from sweeping the delegation, though at this point, it's unlikely any district lines could have saved even a single Democrat. Republicans will now be in charge of the process at a time when the state looks likely to lose a seat.
Source: Daily Kos
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