By Leann Ray | Editor-in-chief
“Never in my life did I dream that I would go to the post office, open my mailbox and pull out not one, not two, not three, but four fliers and see my face on a political attack mailer.” — Kat Weiland, a Democrat running for District 17 in the West Virginia House of Delegates
Election mailers from Black Bear PAC were mistakenly sent to voters in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle and Kanawha County in support of Sen. Anne Charnock, R-Kanawha, and Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio. (Photo illustration by Leann Ray/West Virginia Watch)
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
A super political action committee linked to Gov. Patrick Morrisey sent election mailers backing governor-friendly senators. That’s not abnormal. The problem is the PAC sent the mailers to voters in the wrong parts of West Virginia.
In recent weeks, residents in Mason and Jackson counties have received mailers attacking Kat Weiland, a Democrat challenging Republican incumbent Del. Jonathan Pinson, R-Mason. (Photo courtesy of Kat Weiland)
By Henry Culvyhouse
A super PAC distributing attack mailers against a candidate in the rural 17th House District appears to have had financial ties to a Catholic college in Ohio in the recent past.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey gives his State of the State address in the West Virginia Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
During wave of closures, Morrisey says school funding issue will ‘dominate’ 2027 legislative session
By Amelia Ferrell Knisely
While communities across West Virginia face losing their public schools, Gov. Patrick Morrisey stressed that addressing public school funding issues will be front and center in the next legislative session.
By Henry Culvyhouse
A U.S. District Court judge ruled Thursday to block investigatory subpoenas filed in September against environmental groups.
Many streets on Charleston, West Virginia’s West Side, including Greendale Drive, experienced severe flooding on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (Photo by Leann Ray/West Virginia Watch)
By Lori Kersey
West Virginians affected by severe storms and flooding in August still have time to apply for federal assistance through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Disaster Recovery.
NATIONAL
New U.S. citizens sing the national anthem during an August 2026 naturalization ceremony in Chicago. Naturalizations began dropping late last year as the USCIS started a new, longer process for applicants, including screening social media accounts for “anti-American activities.” (Photo by Maggie Dougherty/Capitol News Illinois)
By Tim Henderson
The Trump administration cut naturalization sharply over the past year, leading to accusations it’s holding back hundreds of thousands of people who might have voted in the midterms.
By Jennifer Shutt
There are just 16 U.S. House races rated as toss-ups as of Oct. 29 by at least two of the three prominent election analysts. Here's a list.
By Jonathan Shorman
A federal judge on Wednesday denied a U.S. Department of Justice request that would have forced California to not count the ballots of 20,000 voters the Trump administration alleges are likely noncitizens.
By Shauneen Miranda
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday is canceled, the Kansas Republican Party confirmed to States Newsroom.
By Jonathan Shorman
The Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to combat noncitizen voting and assert authority over elections came under intense scrutiny in courtrooms across the country on Thursday, as Democrats and voting rights groups alleged federal election interference.
COMMENTARY
Majority of the money cities and counties received from the state’s opioid settlement has gone to law enforcement, according to a spending report from the West Virginia First Foundation. (Photo by Douglas Sacha/Getty Images)
By Antonella Peterson and Jonathan JK Stoltman
West Virginia is a special place, known to outsiders as “Almost Heaven,” as John Denver sings in his song “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” However, West Virginians know there is an eerie emphasis on the word “almost” in our mountain mama’s hymn. The word “almost” speaks to the promise and potential found in West Virginia. Or, as a neighbor back home in Union once put it: “It’s called Almost Heaven, because we’re close to dying every day.”
ICYMI
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