Senate Republicans nominated Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, as their next Senate President on Dec. 8, 2024. Smith spoke with the media on the floor of the Senate Chamber following the vote. (Amelia Ferrell Knisely | West Virginia Watch)
Sen. Randy Smith said he had 10 grandkids waiting to hear the news about their pappy.
On Sunday evening, after three hours of deliberation and two rounds of voting, he’d been nominated as the next Senate President by his Republican colleagues.
He described himself, minutes after the vote, as “shocked, overwhelmed, humbled.”
“I’m not your typical Senate President type … I’ve been a blue collar working class,” said Randy, R-Tucker, a former coal miner who chairs the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee.
“I just give God all the glory … and evidently God wanted me in this house and in this position, or I wouldn’t be here tonight.”
Smith, 64, was first elected to the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms in the House of Delegates.
Before politics, he spent more than two decades working as section foreman at a mine. “I think that has gave me the confidence in my leadership skills,” he said.
The Senate President vote occurred in a closed-door meeting on the Senate floor, so it’s unknown which Republicans voted for Smith or how many votes he received. Ahead of the vote, the race had narrowed to Smith and two other candidates: Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam and Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha.
Smith said he “beat all odds” to win the race for the top position. In West Virginia, the Senate President also serves as the lieutenant governor.
“I didn’t have any super PACs, no money … I had heavy hitting lobbyist groups that were, you know, working against me. You know that they don’t want to see me there, because they know I can’t be bought,” he said.
Smith hasn’t yet named committee leaders but noted that he didn’t promise his fellow GOP Senators anything in order to secure the Senate President appointment. He said that, while it had been a difficult few weeks of politics leading up to the vote, he still considered Tarr and Takubo friends.
“Even tonight, they were the first to congratulate me,” he said.
Smith will succeed Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, who lost reelection in the May primary to Tom Willis. Blair has served as Senate President since 2021.
Smith described himself as conservative and said that West Virginia’s overwhelming support of Republicans in the November election spoke for the kinds of policies they’d like to see passed in the Senate.
He has his own ideas of things he’d like to see prioritized, like supporting small businesses, continuing Gov. Jim Justice’s focus on fixing roads and improving the state’s broadband infrastructure. But, Smith said Caucus priorities will guide his Senate.
“All of us represent a district, and everyone will be free to vote what’s for their district or what their moral values are, and there’ll never be any repercussions from me,” he said. “It’ll be determined by the body, you know, if we have 18 votes, it’ll run, and it’ll pass. Some things I’ll vote against, because I don’t believe in it.”
In 2022, Smith made national headlines after he announced legislation that would have offered vasectomies or tubal ligations to anyone convicted of a drug-related crime in exchange for shorter prison time.
Leadership remains the same in the GOP-controlled House
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay
Republicans in the House of Delegates also had their closed-door Caucus vote on Sunday, opting to keep Roger Hanshaw in his role as House Speaker. He was unopposed. Hanshaw, R-Clay, began serving in the role in 2018 and has been in the Legislature since 2014. He is an attorney.
The House and Senate GOP caucuses will present their nominees for a vote by the full chambers on Jan. 8. Newly-elected members — 14 in the House and 7 in the Senate – will be sworn in on that same day.
W.Va. House Minority Leader Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell
House Democrats will keep Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, as Minority Leader after first electing him to the position in 2023. Hornbuckle, a financial advisor and basketball coach, has been a member of the House since 2014. There will be nine Democrats in the House in 2025, down from the current 11 following November election results.
The Senate will have just two Democrats next year with Majority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, continuing his current term. Senator-elect Joey Garcia will replace long-time lawmaker Mike Caputo, D-Marion, who is retiring.