1996Flipped from RepublicanFinal results
1996 election for West Virginia Senate District 16
West Virginia State Senate · West Virginia
Herb Snyder (D) won with 55.4% of the vote, defeating Mel Bowers Jr. (R) by 10.9 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Herb SnyderDemocrat · winner
55.4%19,277
Mel Bowers Jr.Republican
44.6%15,492
34,769 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
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET