CHARLESTON – A last-ditch effort by some members of the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee to reopen their May 2026 primary to unaffiliated voters failed, requiring anyone to vote in the GOP primary to be a registered Republican.

The committee gathered Saturday for its winter meeting at the Four Points Sheraton in downtown Charleston.

Two years ago, members of the executive committee voted for an amended resolution to close the Republican primary to unaffiliated voters beginning in 2026 after an attempt to close the 2024 GOP primary failed.

State code 3-2-31 and 3-4A-20 allows political parties to determine whether unaffiliated voters – those registered as “no party” – can participate in primaries. Unaffiliated voters have been able to participate in Republican primary contests since 1986 and Democratic primaries since 2017.