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This is the 1996 race. The latest: 2026 →

1996Final resultsIncumbent defeated

1996 election for West Virginia Delegate District 44

West Virginia House of Delegates · West Virginia

Michael Buchanan (D), Robert C. Beach (D), Barbara Evans Fleischauer (D) and Eugene Claypole (D) won the district's 4 seats.

4 seats
Michael BuchananDemocrat · winner
18.1%16,234
Robert C. BeachDemocrat · winner · incumbent
14.3%12,812
Barbara Evans FleischauerDemocrat · winner · incumbent
14.3%12,784
Eugene ClaypoleDemocrat · winner
12.6%11,337
Eric T. BlassRepublican · incumbent
12.0%10,743
Sheirl Lee FletcherRepublican
11.5%10,300
Marlene H. FrichRepublican
10.3%9,261
Ed KohoutRepublican
6.9%6,161
89,632 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 1996

Races before and after

EvenD+8.01992R+0.91994D+2.71996R+1.61998D+6.52000

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

The candidates

Michael Buchanan (D)Robert C. Beach (D)Barbara Evans Fleischauer (D)Eugene Claypole (D)Eric T. Blass (R)Sheirl Lee Fletcher (R)Marlene H. Frich (R)Ed Kohout (R)