# Trenton Barnhart

Trenton Barnhart is a Republican member of the West Virginia Senate for district 3.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: West Virginia Senate, district 3
- Serving since: 2022-12-01
- Current term: WV 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/4a909c49-37c6-4105-ac77-afe4745a1b1b

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/4a909c49-37c6-4105-ac77-afe4745a1b1b (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

The policy areas Barnhart talks about and legislates on agree at 0.38 on a 0–1 scale, in the bottom quarter of State Senate Republicans.

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

104 classified statements: 104 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Barnhart | State Senate Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 1.0% | 2.3% | 143 of 354 |
| Policy criticism | 0.0% | 9.5% | 331 of 354 |
| Policy discussion | 36.5% | 37.3% | 181 of 354 |
| Bipartisanship | 2.9% | 2.3% | 103 of 354 |
| Credit claiming | 19.2% | 15.4% | 122 of 354 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.3% | 261 of 354 |

Most discussed policy areas: Economics and Public Finance 32% (State Senate Republicans 12%); Government Operations and Politics 16% (State Senate Republicans 17%); Agriculture and Food 13% (State Senate Republicans 6.2%); Transportation and Public Works 13% (State Senate Republicans 6.0%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 11% (State Senate Republicans 5.0%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.40 (standard error 0.02), from 104 donors and 684 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 56% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (WV 2025–26 session)

1,131 roll calls. Attendance 99.4% (West Virginia Senate 97.9%). Party unity 92.0% (88%). 30 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · Passage · HB 4004 Creating the Recharge West Virginia Program · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB4004/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · Passage · HB 5277 Supplemental Appropriation to the Department of Health Facilities-Welch Community Hospital, William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital, and Mildred… · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5277/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · Passage · HB 5694 Supplemental appropriation to Department of Education, fund 0313. · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5694/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · Passage · HB 4009 Relating to the creation of the Portable Benefit Account Act · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB4009/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · Passage · HB 5288 Supplemental Appropriation to the Department of Agriculture-West Virginia Spay Neuter Assistance Fund from Special Revenue · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5288/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · Passage · HB 5317 Supplemental Appropriation to the Department of Commerce - Division of Natural Resources from the Unappropriated Surplus Balance. · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5317/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · Passage · 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 · Passage · HB 4245 Authorizing Certain Agencies of the Department of Revenue to Promulgate Legislative Rules · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB4245/
- 2026-03-14 · voted yea · Passage · HB 5307 Supplemental Appropriation to the Department of Tourism- Division of Culture and History from the Unappropriated Surplus Balance. · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5307/
- 2026-03-13 · voted yea · Passage · HB 5537 Repealing obsolete and outdated sections of the Education code. · pass · https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/HB5537/

## Legislation (WV 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 21 bills: 21 reached committee, 6 passed one chamber, 4 passed both, 3 became law. Cosponsored 87. 28.6% of sponsored bills got out of committee (West Virginia Senate 25.9%; rank 13 of 34).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SB 1079: Requiring PEIA accept premium payments by credit card or state purchasing card (in committee, 2026-02-23) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB1079/
- SB 887: Relating to requirements for licensure and regulation of money transmission services (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB887/
- SB 885: Allowing Tier II teachers to bank unused sick time toward retirement (in committee, 2026-02-09) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB885/
- SB 727: Relating to bank merger by interstate branching (in committee, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB727/
- SB 723: Clarifying law-enforcement cooperation with bordering states (became law, 2026-06-25) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB723/
- SB 726: Removing cap for municipalities on their stabilization fund (became law, 2026-06-25) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB726/
- SB 725: Creating First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account Act (in committee, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB725/
- HB 3505: Relating to insurance (passed one chamber, 2025-04-09) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2025/HB3505/
- HB 3401: Relating to notice of possible surface encumbrances overlying mineral parcels (in committee, 2025-03-17) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2025/HB3401/
- HB 3375: Creating the “First Time Home Buyer Savings Account Act" (in committee, 2025-03-14) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2025/HB3375/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $87.4K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 77% 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.

- 2026-10-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2114073091152441463
- 2026-10-22 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2113369049287573904
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2112724483048140914
- 2026-10-20 · Post on X · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2112347789590229368
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2111592228171010362
- 2026-10-16 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2110918071460536369
- 2026-10-13 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2109833827753542051
- 2026-10-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2109105644548628594
- 2026-10-09 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2108383050900095040
- 2026-10-07 · Post on X · https://x.com/Tbarn_WV/status/2107659995462635866

## Links

- Official site: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/House/lawmaker.cfm?member=Delegate%20Barnhart
- X: https://x.com/Tbarn_WV
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trenton.barnhart.5/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barnhart4wv/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trenton-barnhart-mba-77a691161

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/4a909c49-37c6-4105-ac77-afe4745a1b1b