Running for office in West Virginia

This page covers what's specific to West Virginia. Start with the general guide for the steps every candidate follows regardless of state.

Filing in West Virginia

Running for office in West Virginia starts with a Certificate of Announcement (form C-1), not a nominating petition, for candidates affiliated with a recognized political party. Filing this certificate with a filing fee puts your name before your party's primary voters.

Where you file depends on the office. Statewide, legislative, judicial (except magistrate), or any office spanning more than one county files with the Secretary of State. Single-county offices, including county commission, magistrate, or district-level party executive committee, file with the county clerk instead.

The standard filing fee is 1 percent of the office's annual salary, varying by office and, for county positions, by the county's pay scale. If you don't want to pay the fee, you can circulate a nominating petition instead, collecting signatures equal to four times the number of whole dollars the fee would have been.

Independent and minor-party candidates face a separate track: nominating petition signatures equal to at least 1 percent of the votes cast for that office in the last general election (or a minimum of 25 signatures), an official credentials form from the county clerk before circulating petitions, and the same filing fee as party candidates. Their filing deadline falls later, ahead of the general election rather than the primary.

Deadlines and numbers

• 2026 primary filing period: Monday, January 12 through Saturday, January 31, 2026
• Mailed Certificates of Announcement must be postmarked before midnight Eastern on January 31, 2026
• Final-day in-person filing hours: Secretary of State's office, 9:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. County clerk offices, 9:00 a.m. to noon
• Primary election: May 12, 2026. General election: November 3, 2026.
• Filing fee: 1 percent of the annual salary of the office sought
• In-lieu-of-fee petition: four qualified-voter signatures per whole dollar of the filing fee
• Independent/no-party candidates: filing deadline no later than August 3, 2026

The dossier could not independently confirm exact dollar filing-fee figures for specific 2026 races, since the fee is a computed percentage that varies by office and county pay scale. Confirm with the Secretary of State or your county clerk, or ask in /engage.

Where to go

• West Virginia Secretary of State, elections division: sos.wv.gov/elections
• Certificate of Announcement (form C-1): sos.wv.gov/FormSearch/Elections/Candidate
• Candidate filing status lookup: apps.sos.wv.gov/elections/candidate-search
• Campaign Finance Reporting System: cfrs.wvsos.gov
• West Virginia Code sections 3-5-8 and 3-5-8a on filing fees and in-lieu-of-fee petitions
• Your county clerk for single-county office deadlines and hours