# Laura Chapman

Laura Chapman is a Republican member of the West Virginia Senate for district 1.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: West Virginia Senate, district 1
- Serving since: 2022-12-01
- Current term: WV 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/599fd572-0475-4215-8d43-1474237f5a78

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/599fd572-0475-4215-8d43-1474237f5a78 (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

Chapman missed 6.4% of 799 roll calls, attendance in the bottom tenth of the West Virginia Senate (average 97.9%).

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

381 classified statements: 381 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 | Chapman | State Senate Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.3% | 272 of 354 |
| Policy criticism | 4.5% | 9.5% | 210 of 354 |
| Policy discussion | 43.0% | 37.3% | 144 of 354 |
| Bipartisanship | 1.1% | 2.3% | 206 of 354 |
| Credit claiming | 27.0% | 15.4% | 61 of 354 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.3% | 261 of 354 |

Most discussed policy areas: Health 21% (State Senate Republicans 9.1%); Education 18% (State Senate Republicans 14%); Families 12% (State Senate Republicans 4.2%); Transportation and Public Works 12% (State Senate Republicans 6.0%); Energy 10% (State Senate Republicans 5.8%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.43 (standard error 0.02), from 178 donors and 394 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 61% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (WV 2025–26 session)

799 roll calls. Attendance 93.6% (West Virginia Senate 97.9%). Party unity 89% (88%). 29 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 not voting · 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 139 bills: 121 reached committee, 15 passed one chamber, 9 passed both, 8 became law. Cosponsored 68. 10.8% of sponsored bills got out of committee (West Virginia Senate 25.9%; rank 29 of 34).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SR 58: Designating March 6, 2026, as Girl Scouts Day (introduced, 2026-03-06) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SR58/
- SB 981: Imposing one-year moratorium on approval of certain public utility rate increases (in committee, 2026-03-04) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB981/
- SB 922: Requiring public lodging establishments to provide human trafficking awareness training for employees (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB922/
- SB 867: Strengthening definition of shelter for animals exposed to extreme weather (in committee, 2026-02-09) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB867/
- SB 763: Requiring children to be screened for sex trafficking upon entering foster care (passed one chamber, 2026-02-23) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB763/
- SB 713: Providing 10 percent raise for all public school staff (in committee, 2026-02-02) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB713/
- SB 663: Allowing parents to refuse family court-ordered medical procedure of child against parents' wishes (in committee, 2026-01-29) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB663/
- SB 664: Allowing power of attorney or conservator to sign transfer on death deed (in committee, 2026-01-29) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB664/
- SB 653: Placing statue of remembrance in rotunda (in committee, 2026-01-28) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SB653/
- SR 18: Designating January 27, 2026, as Sexual Violence Awareness Day at Legislature (introduced, 2026-01-27) https://openstates.org/wv/bills/2026/SR18/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $142.9K (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.

- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2114761921547149665
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2114775309442548006
- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2114350472543064483
- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2114391426553245822
- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2114437057145966901
- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2114468408129368499
- 2026-10-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2113998415088570552
- 2026-10-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2114040641197887981
- 2026-10-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2113436380835746029
- 2026-10-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/lauraforwv/status/2113625225631826108

## Links

- Official site: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Senate1/lawmaker.cfm?member=Senator%20Chapman
- Campaign site: https://lauraforwv.com/
- X: https://x.com/lauraforwv
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraforWV/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jlwchapman
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraforwv/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/599fd572-0475-4215-8d43-1474237f5a78