# Mike Woelfel

Mike Woelfel is a Democratic member of the West Virginia Senate for district 5.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: West Virginia Senate, district 5
- Serving since: 2015-01-14
- Current term: WV 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/500ddd59-2fb2-406a-869c-2b06f6cc2385

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/500ddd59-2fb2-406a-869c-2b06f6cc2385 (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

Woelfel sits at −0.20 on the CSIP scale, more conservative than 96% of State Senate Democrats.

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

141 classified statements: 141 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Woelfel | State Senate Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 2.8% | 2.4% | 86 of 329 |
| Policy criticism | 10.6% | 10.3% | 130 of 329 |
| Policy discussion | 24.8% | 42.9% | 267 of 329 |
| Bipartisanship | 4.3% | 3.4% | 96 of 329 |
| Credit claiming | 2.8% | 16.1% | 292 of 329 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 0.8% | 228 of 329 |

Most discussed policy areas: Crime and Law Enforcement 20% (State Senate Democrats 8.4%); Government Operations and Politics 20% (State Senate Democrats 14%); Health 17% (State Senate Democrats 17%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 11% (State Senate Democrats 8.4%); Education 8.6% (State Senate Democrats 15%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.20 (standard error 0.01), from 40 donors and 657 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 96% of State Senate Democrats score lower.

## Votes (WV 2025–26 session)

799 roll calls. Attendance 94.9% (West Virginia Senate 97.9%). Party unity 100% (88%). 0 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 not voting · 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 not voting · 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 55 bills: 49 reached committee, 3 passed one chamber, 2 passed both, 1 became law. Cosponsored 317. 5.5% of sponsored bills got out of committee (West Virginia Senate 25.9%; rank 32 of 34).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SR 44: Recognizing St. Joseph Central Catholic High School Fighting Irish Boys Soccer Team for winning State Championship title (introduced, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SR44/
- SB 941: Making certain agreements prohibiting information sharing related to sexual abuse unenforceable (in committee, 2026-02-13) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB941/
- SB 782: Relating to salaries and retirement benefits of judges (introduced, 2026-02-05) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB782/
- SR 25: Designating February 3, 2026, as Marshall University Day (introduced, 2026-02-03) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SR25/
- SB 550: Providing for nonpartisan election of commission members (in committee, 2026-01-21) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB550/
- SB 552: Authorizing county boards of education to designate schools as rural anchor schools (in committee, 2026-01-21) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB552/
- SB 555: Establishing Essential Personnel Bridge Grant Program (in committee, 2026-01-21) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB555/
- SB 551: Restoring voting rights to faculty, student, and employee members of institutional boards of governors (in committee, 2026-01-21) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB551/
- SB 554: Establishing enrollment stabilizer mechanism within public school support plan (in committee, 2026-01-21) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB554/
- SB 553: Providing for transfer of license to contractor’s qualifying immediate family member (became law, 2026-06-25) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB553/

## Campaign money (2024 cycle)

Itemized receipts $1,500 (State Senate Democrats median $16.2K). Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

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

- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2114839232049242337
- 2026-10-13 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2110155914208764281
- 2026-10-08 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2108227454380957897
- 2026-10-01 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2105691692456181792
- 2026-09-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2101354277474058691
- 2026-09-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2101424820973904256
- 2026-09-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2100394697692680322
- 2026-09-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2100395067424870701
- 2026-09-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2100397005382054068
- 2026-09-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/mawtrout/status/2100397472820379842

## Links

- Official site: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Senate1/lawmaker.cfm?member=Senator%20Woelfel
- Campaign site: http://woelfelforsenate.com/
- X: https://x.com/mawtrout
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Mike-Woelfel-for-Senate-100057851718226/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mike.woelfel.75/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-woelfel-b2b47033/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/500ddd59-2fb2-406a-869c-2b06f6cc2385