Senate Republicans nominated Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, as their next Senate president on Dec. 8, 2024. Smith spoke to the media on the floor of the Senate chamber after the vote. (Amelia Ferrell Knisely | West Virginia watch)
Senator Randy Smith said he had 10 grandchildren waiting to hear about their pappy.
On Sunday evening, after three hours of deliberation and two rounds of voting, he was nominated by his Republican colleagues as the next Senate president.
He described himself minutes after the vote as “shocked, overwhelmed and humiliated.”
“I’m not the typical type of Senate president… I’ve been a working class person,” shelp Randy, R-Tucker, a former coal miner who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, Industry and Mining.
“I just give God all the glory… and apparently God wanted me in this house and in this position or I wouldn’t be here tonight.”
Smith, 64, was first elected to the Senate in 2016 after serving two terms in the House of Representatives.
Before he entered politics, he worked as a section foreman in a mine for more than twenty years. “I think this has given me confidence in my leadership skills,” he said.
The vote for Senate president took place in a closed-door meeting on the Senate floor, so it is unknown which Republicans voted for Smith or how many votes he received. Before the vote, the race was narrowed to Smith and two other candidates: Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, and Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha.
Smith said he “beat all odds” to win the race for the top spot. In West Virginia, the Senate President also serves as lieutenant governor.
“I had no super PACs, no money… I had hard-hit lobbyist groups that, you know, were working against me. You know they don’t want to see me there because they know I can’t be bribed,” he said.
Smith has not yet named any committee leaders, but noted that he has not made any promises to his fellow GOP senators to secure the Senate presidential nomination. He said that although it had been a difficult few political weeks leading up to the vote, he still considered Tarr and Takubo friends.
“Even tonight they were the first to congratulate me,” he said.
Smith will succeed Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley lost re-election in May primarily for Tom Willis. Blair has been president of the Senate since 2021.
Describing himself as a conservative, Smith said West Virginia’s overwhelming support for Republicans in the November election made a case for the type of policies they would like to see passed in the Senate.
He has his own ideas on issues he would like to see prioritized, such as supporting small businesses, continuing Gov. Jim Justice’s focus on repairing roads and improving the state’s broadband infrastructure. But Smith said the Caucus’ priorities will guide his Senate.
“We all represent a district, and everyone will be free to vote what is in their district or what their moral values are, and there will never be any repercussions for that from me,” he said. “It will be determined by the body, you know, if we have 18 votes, it will be valid and it will pass. I vote against some things because I don’t believe in them.”
Then in 2022, Smith made national headlines he announced legislation that anyone would have offered a vasectomy or tubal ligation convicted of a drug-related crime in exchange for a shorter prison sentence.
Leadership remains the same in the Republican Party-controlled House
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay
Republicans in the House of Representatives also had their Caucus vote behind closed doors on Sunday and opted to keep Roger Hanshaw in his role as Speaker of the House of Representatives. He had no opposition. Hanshaw, R-Clay, began serving in that role in 2018 and has served in the Legislature since 2014. He’s a lawyer.
The Republican Party’s caucuses in the House and Senate will nominate their nominees to the full chambers for a vote on January 8. Newly elected members – 14 in the House and 7 in the Senate – will be sworn in on the same day.
W.Va. House Minority Leader Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell
The Democrats in the House of Representatives will vote for Del. Retaining Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, as minority leader after first electing him to the position in 2023. Hornbuckle, a financial advisor and basketball coach, has served in the House of Representatives since 2014. nine Democrats in the House in 2025, down from the current 11 after the November election results.
The Senate will have that only two Democrats next year with Majority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, continuing in his current term. Newly elected Sen. Joey Garcia will replace longtime lawmaker Mike Caputo, D-Marion, who is retiring.
