1972Final resultsIncumbent defeated
1972 election for West Virginia Senate District 16
West Virginia State Senate · West Virginia
William J. Oates (D) won with 60.8% of the vote, defeating John I. Rogers (R) by 21.6 points.
William J. OatesDemocrat · winner
60.8%26,988
John I. RogersRepublican · incumbent
39.2%17,391
44,379 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1972
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET