Steve Williams (West Virginia)
Steve Williams (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of West Virginia. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Williams completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Steve Williams earned a B.A. in political science from Marshall University in 1978, a master's of public administration (MPA) from West Virginia University in 1980, and a degree from the University of the South, Sewanee, in 2020. His career experience includes working as a market manager and director of sales at various companies. Williams also served as mayor of the City of Huntington, WV.[1][2]
Elections
2024
See also: West Virginia gubernatorial election, 2024
General election
General election for Governor of West Virginia
The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of West Virginia on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Patrick Morrisey (R) | 62.0 | 459,300 |
 | Steve Williams (D)  | 31.6 | 233,976 | |
 | Erika Kolenich (L) | 2.9 | 21,228 | |
 | S. Marshall Wilson (Constitution Party) | 2.3 | 16,828 | |
 | Chase Linko-Looper (Mountain Party) | 1.3 | 9,596 | |
| William Meadows (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 5 | ||
 | Quintin Gerard Caldwell (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 3 | |
| Troy Green (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 2 | ||
| Total votes: 740,938 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of West Virginia
Steve Williams advanced from the Democratic primary for Governor of West Virginia on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steve Williams | 100.0 | 89,576 |
| Total votes: 89,576 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of West Virginia
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of West Virginia on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Patrick Morrisey | 33.3 | 75,146 |
 | Moore Capito | 27.5 | 62,224 | |
 | Chris Miller | 20.4 | 46,062 | |
 | Mac Warner | 16.0 | 36,199 | |
| Mitch Roberts | 1.4 | 3,142 | ||
 | Kevin Christian | 1.4 | 3,093 | |
| Total votes: 225,866 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- John B. McCuskey (R)
- Rashida Yost (R)
Mountain Party primary election
Mountain Party primary for Governor of West Virginia
Chase Linko-Looper advanced from the Mountain Party primary for Governor of West Virginia on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chase Linko-Looper | 100.0 | 382 |
| Total votes: 382 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Williams in this election.
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House West Virginia District 3
Carol Miller defeated Richard Ojeda in the general election for U.S. House West Virginia District 3 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Carol Miller (R) | 56.4 | 98,645 |
 | Richard Ojeda (D) | 43.6 | 76,340 | |
| Total votes: 174,985 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 3
Richard Ojeda defeated Shirley Love, Paul Davis, and Janice Hagerman in the Democratic primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 3 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Richard Ojeda | 52.2 | 29,867 |
 | Shirley Love | 24.6 | 14,109 | |
 | Paul Davis | 16.0 | 9,137 | |
 | Janice Hagerman | 7.2 | 4,147 | |
| Total votes: 57,260 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Steve Williams (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 3
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House West Virginia District 3 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Carol Miller | 23.8 | 8,923 |
 | Rupie Phillips | 19.5 | 7,319 | |
 | Marty Gearheart | 18.2 | 6,814 | |
 | Conrad Lucas | 18.1 | 6,771 | |
 | Rick Snuffer | 10.6 | 3,987 | |
 | Ayne Amjad | 7.5 | 2,795 | |
 | Philip Payton | 2.3 | 861 | |
| Total votes: 37,470 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Steve Williams completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Williams' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
My name is Steve Williams. I am the unopposed Democratic candidate for Governor of the State of West Virginia. I am a native West Virginia. I was born in Bluefield, WV and grew up through age 16 in Athens, WV. My father was head football coach at Concord University. My mother was an early childhood elementary school teacher. My dad grew up in McDowell County and my mother grew up in Mercer County. Both of my grandfathers were coal miners. When my dad quit coaching at Concord he went to Virginia Tech to get his doctorate degree and upon completion he was offered a job to be a professor at Marshall University. At age 16 my family moved to Huntington. I graduated from Huntington High School and was offered a football scholarship at Marshall University. I was a member of the Young Thundering Herd which followed the tragic plane crash that killed the Marshall football team, staff, and boosters. Upon graduating with honors from Marshall, I attended West Virginia University and received a Masters Degree.
My professional life has included being a Director of the Putnam County Development Authority, Director of Economic Development and City Manager of the City of Huntington. I served 4 terms in the WV House of Delegates, In 2008 I was elected to Huntington City Council and in 2012 I was elected Mayor of Huntington. I am the only three term mayor ever elected in the City of Huntington. I am running for Governor because our success in Huntington can be instructive for the state.
- Freedom is on the ballot.
- We will set standards that the rest of the nation will seek to emulate.
- We must expect more out of ourselves. We can compete with anyone in the world. In order to compete and to be a top producing state we have to be aggressive in our aspirations and again expect to set standards that the rest of the nation will seek to follow. We create unimaginable success by being collaborative and placing aside political parties and insist on results. My mantra is "Make No Little Plans". We need to challenge ourselves to make a difference in each other's lives.
Innovation. Creating prosperity. Transformational leadership. Leveraging talent in our communities. Identifying talent hiding in plain sight and enabling communities to develop solutions that make sense for their community, their neighborhoods, their families.
My Granddad Taylor. At age 8 his father died in the mines and Granddad had to go to work in the mines to provide for the family. He grew up on Taylor Mountain in Mercer County. He managed to buy a hillside farm in Duhring, WV when he and may Grandmother married. My Granddad had a 3rd grade education and may Grandma had an 8th grade education. Yet, their 4 children all went to college and each received advanced degrees. My mother and her 2 sisters became teachers and her brother became a minister and retired from a pastoring a church next to UCLA in Los Angeles.
If I am elected Governor, I will be standing on the shoulders of Everett Taylor who became a coal miner at the age of 8.
The American Dream lives.
"The Tipping Point" by Malcom Gladwell. It is the little details that will transform lives and society.
Integrity. Dignity. Tireless enthusiasm. Intellectual curiosity.
A Governor needs to articulated a vision, build consensus towards accomplishing that vision, and then persuade the residents of the state to identify their personal assignment(s) to making a difference in the lives of our families and neighbors.
Intellectual curiosity.
Dogged determination.
Lead. Lead. Lead.
Set a vision, articulate the vision and build consensus towards accomplishing that vision.
The next Governor will face a challenge that will be unexpected. At that moment the Governor has to name the problem and then claim ownership of the problem.
I hope that when people stand over my grave, they will be able to say, "this world is a better place because Steve Williams lived."
The assassination of President Kennedy. I was 7 years old and my mother had taken me to the doctor. As we were walking down the street in Downtown Bluefield a large crowd was gathered in front of the Montgomery Ward's show window and everyone was watching the news coverage on the TV set. I recall coming home from church a few days later and a neighbor came to the front porch to say that Lee Harvey Oswald had been killed on live TV.
I was a Chief Housing Inspector and Supervisor of the Construction Inspectors in the City of Huntington. I had that job for 2 years. I learned that regulations set by the government do not demand additional regulations. What is necessary is to use our mental capacity to identify how we can best serve the needs of the community and making another law or additional regulation is not necessary.
"Think And Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.
It doesn't address financial health. Hill indicates there is a secret formula success found throughout the pages of the book, but it is not explicitly stated.
I had to read the book three times until I found "secret"!
I won't say what the "secret" is...but it is found within the title. I have been guided by this book and its secret through celebrations and through personal trials.
"Aint no mountain high enough."
During my 12 years as Mayor of my city, I learned that there is one person who must own every problem facing the community - the Mayor. When someone says, "Somebody needs to do something..." - the Governor has to name the problem, take ownership of the problem and then identify a path towards creating a solution.
The Governor must be decisive and not be fearful of making the wrong decision. That's ok. Name it. Own it. Adjust.
People will follow a leader when the leader demonstrates that movement is occurring.
The Governor should be seen at the principled voice of the State. We will find solutions together. We will work together to enable decisions to be made in our communities. We will work together to make a difference in the lives of our families and neighbors.
When you control finances you control policy.
The legislature will expect that I will be scrutinizing every penny being appropriated.
I will use a line-veto if I determine that the appropriation could derail fiscal integrity.
Collaboration.
Period.
The people.
Financial stability. If we assure fiscal integrity we will have the resources to create prosperity and transformation of our state's future.
I insist on my legal counsel to advise me the full breadth of the authority of the office on a given issue. I will then use every centimeter of authority in the field of executive authority. I will depend on my legal counsel to be yelling "Look Out!" and assure that I stay within the legal boundaries of my office
Public dollars must be sanitized by the light of public scrutiny. The government's accountability depends on the accountability of the CEO...the Governor. Every dollar needs to be judiciously spent and every dollar needs to be structured to leverage additional resources to maximize innovation.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Williams’ campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
BECAUSE LEADERSHIP MATTERS! As Governor, Steve Williams will fight to create jobs and opportunity so that our kids can stay at home and our families can stay together. Join our campaign to make sure the best West Virginia is yet to come. Sign up now! SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN I love West Virginia. We're a great state filled with wonderful hardworking people. I want safer communities, stronger schools, healthier families and personal freedom. Most of all, I want an economy that will provide the jobs and opportunities that will allow our kids to stay home and our families to stay together. The only way we'll be able to keep up our campaign's momentum is if you're standing with us. Please chip in now to help us win.[3] |
” |
| —Steve Williams’ campaign website (2024)[4] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Stephen Williams," accessed March 10, 2024
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 15, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Steve Williams for WV, “Home,” accessed September 24, 2024
 |
State of West Virginia Charleston (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
