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This is the 1986 race. The latest: 2026 →

1986Final resultsSpecial election

1986 special election for West Virginia Senate District 14

West Virginia State Senate · West Virginia

Joe Manchin III (D) won with 47.0% of the vote, defeating Jack May (D) by 10.9 points.

Joe Manchin IIIDemocrat · winner
47.0%10,691
Jack MayDemocrat
36.1%8,220
Lyman ClarkRepublican
16.9%3,840
22,751 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 1986

Races before and after

EvenD+47.81982D+22.41984D+66.21986 special electionD+31.71986 runoffR+2.21986

Source: Past results: 99chambers results archive (MEDSL, Klarner, state election offices)

The candidates

Joe Manchin III (D)Jack May (D)Lyman Clark (R)