# Gary Howell

Gary Howell is a Republican member of the West Virginia House for district 87.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: West Virginia House, district 87
- Serving since: 2010-12-01
- Current term: WV 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/405fa851-873f-4895-acd5-d394fbb06be3

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/405fa851-873f-4895-acd5-d394fbb06be3 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

48% of Howell’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from West Virginia, in the bottom tenth of State House Republicans.

## What Howell says (WV 2025–26 session)

14 classified statements: 14 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Howell | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.9% | 642 of 791 |
| Policy criticism | 14.3% | 9.3% | 183 of 791 |
| Policy discussion | 28.6% | 31.9% | 431 of 791 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 1.8% | 677 of 791 |
| Credit claiming | 0.0% | 12.7% | 764 of 791 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.4% | 618 of 791 |

Most discussed policy areas: Science, Technology, Communications 50% (State House Republicans 2.4%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 25% (State House Republicans 6.2%); Economics and Public Finance 25% (State House Republicans 12%); Agriculture and Food 0% (State House Republicans 4.4%); Armed Forces and National Security 0% (State House Republicans 4.9%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.30 (standard error 0.02), from 71 donors and 871 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 40% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (WV 2025–26 session)

1,396 roll calls. Attendance 97.9% (West Virginia House 95.6%). Party unity 85% (86%). 55 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · PASSAGE · SB 952 Transferring Court Security Fund · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB952/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · PASSAGE-SENATE AMENDED HB · HB 4538 Regarding fines in DOH work zones · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB4538/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · PASSAGE-SENATE AMENDED HB · HB 5462 Relating to Mine Subsidence · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5462/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · EFFECT Jul 01, 2026 · HB 5441 Reforming State Personnel System · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5441/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · PREVIOUS QUESTION · HB 5381 Relating to developing a comprehensive energy development policy and plan for the Office of Energy · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5381/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · EFFECT FROM PASSAGE · SB 1043 Supplemental appropriation to Department of Agriculture, fund 1401 · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB1043/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · PASSAGE-SENATE AMENDED HB · HB 4577 Relating to driver’s licenses · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB4577/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · PASSAGE-SENATE AMENDED HB · HB 5528 Relating to protection of personal residential information of certain public officials. · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5528/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · EFFECT FROM PASSAGE · HB 5693 Supplemental appropriation, Department of Tourism Revenue · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5693/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · PASSAGE-SENATE AMENDED HB · HB 5686 Relating to the timing of payments of annually required deposit into an eligible recipient’s Hope Scholarship account · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5686/

## Legislation (WV 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 88 bills: 88 reached committee, 14 passed one chamber, 4 passed both, 2 became law. Cosponsored 64. 15.9% of sponsored bills got out of committee (West Virginia House 22.2%; rank 52 of 84).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HCR 29: Requesting Joint Committee study the feasibility of establishing a flexible, short-duration, on-demand respite care program for seniors and caregivers (in committee, 2026-03-05) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HCR29/
- HCR 25: Requesting a Study on Reducing Non Revenue Water Through Leak Detection, Infrastructure Improvements, and Performance Based Incentives to Stabilize Water Rates (in committee, 2026-03-03) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HCR25/
- HCR 26: Requesting a Study on Energy Recovery and Micro-Hydropower Opportunities in Public Water Systems to Reduce Operating Costs and Stabilize Water Rates (in committee, 2026-03-03) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HCR26/
- HR 19: Urging Department of Administration to maintain trees on grounds to prevent damage to persons or property (in committee, 2026-02-26) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HR19/
- HCR 22: Requesting Joint Committee study policies to accelerate the ordering and deployment of electric generation equipment necessary to ensure grid reliability,… (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HCR22/
- HCR 21: Study resolution study the feasibility of providing property tax relief to primary residence when investments increase a county property tax base (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HCR21/
- HB 5675: WV Reshoring Manufacturing Act (in committee, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5675/
- HB 5492: Relating to advance purchase agreements for electric substation transformers (in committee, 2026-02-23) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5492/
- HB 5389: Veterans Housing Redevelopment Tax Credit Act (in committee, 2026-02-10) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5389/
- HB 5387: Relating to high school graduation requirements (in committee, 2026-02-10) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5387/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $64.6K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 48% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-01-06 · Post on X · https://x.com/71Demon/status/2008678590913941516
- 2026-01-04 · Post on X · https://x.com/71Demon/status/2007962240922870053
- 2025-09-10 · Post on X · https://x.com/71Demon/status/1965876628996895057
- 2025-06-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/71Demon/status/1932795247978783049
- 2025-05-28 · Post on X · https://x.com/71Demon/status/1927692348349129155
- 2025-05-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/71Demon/status/1927134467098841533
- 2025-03-30 · Post on X · https://x.com/71Demon/status/1906380473170841624
- 2025-03-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/71Demon/status/1903791664893747268
- 2025-02-07 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/71Demon/status/1887957784894812381
- 2025-02-07 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/71Demon/status/1887957842512019828

## Links

- Official site: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/House/lawmaker.cfm?member=Delegate%20Howell
- X: https://x.com/71Demon
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DelegateHowellCampaign/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garyghowell66/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQtL91S3JeYt9eotid5Q6ZQ/videos
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-howell-42425610

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/405fa851-873f-4895-acd5-d394fbb06be3