> west virginia first voted democrat in the 1876 presidential election and would remain a blue state during the gilded age but shifted back to the republican column in 1896 as coal mining became one of the state's principle industries. it voted for woodrow wilson in 1912 but went republican for the next four presidential elections. fdr's 1932 landslide turned the mountain state into a reliable blue one for decades as the coal mining unions were one of the state's largest power blocs. west virginia voted democrat in presidential elections almost without interruption for the remainder of the 20th century, only breaking to vote republican in the 1956, 1972, and 1984 landslides. in 1988 it went back to voting democrat but in a slightly bizarre twist when one faithless elector voted for democrat vice presidential candidate lloyd benson for president. the clinton years were the final ones of west virginia as democrat turf; as the coal industry declined, so did the power of the unions and it has not voted democrat in a 21st century presidential election; in addition, no democrat has carried any counties in the state since 2008.
United States