Teresa Toriseva

WHEELING – Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva announced Monday she wants to be the next chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party.

The party’s executive committee hosts its organizational meeting at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Conference Center in Charleston. Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, is the current chair of the party, with Toriseva serving as first vice chair and Sam Petsonk of Oak Hill as second vice chair. Pushkin has been chairman since 2022.

Toriseva is proposing a ticket to challenge Pushkin by which she would rise to chair, Petsonk would become first vice chair and former Delegate Cindy Lavender-Bowe would be second vice chair.

“The reason to challenge any incumbent chair who wants to holdover power is that the job is not being done in a way that positions the party for maximum success,” Toriseva said Monday. “West Virginia Democrats must do better at fundraising, candidate support and messaging that connects to real people.

“We must do better at listening and growing,” she added. “We have very strong Democratic candidates. We must deliver the infrastructure to support and sustain them. We have an important and urgent message about fighting for the working families and small businesses of this state who are struggling with sky-high energy prices and a dying healthcare system. We must connect that message to the voters who yearn for better political leaders.”

There are many frustrated voters seeking “a political home,” Toriseva continued.

“We need a dynamic and evolving leadership that keeps attracting more West Virginians to our team,” Toriseva said. “We have made important strides to reorganize internally — by revamping our platform, recruiting young members, restarting old chapters, and more.

“Now we need to translate that effort into measurable success financially, organizationally, and at the polls. West Virginians need solutions urgently. As Democrats, we must deliver a professional, disciplined organization that meets the moment.”

Toriseva noted that as chair, she would focus on relationship building, fundraising, and “honoring the party structure to strengthen county committees to enhance voter connection at the local level.”

“The public is demanding a reformed and revitalized Democratic Party, and the party must satisfy those demands urgently,” she said. “It is not enough to fill Democratic candidate vacancies. The Democratic Party and its chair must work to support those candidates to victory, including raising sufficient funds and ensuring transparency and collaboration.

“Under the current chair, the Democratic Party has lost seats in the West Virginia House and Senate. The party must grow and be ready in November to gain seats in the Capitol.”

Toriseva said she was heavily recruited by Democrats statewide and has been conducting one-on-one conversations with executive committee members.

“The party has lost confidence in the current chair,” she continued. “I will rebuild broken relationships and be a chair that never stops fighting for working people and their families.”

She is endorsed in this race by the West Virginia Federation of Democratic Women.

Pushkin will be seeking re-election as chair on Saturday, and said party unity is paramount heading into November.

“The members of the executive committee know how much work went into filling the ballots and putting us in a great position to win in November,” he said. “I am laser-focused on taking the fight to Republicans every day.

“Just this morning, we issued a release exposing Republican Senator Jay Taylor for failing to report income from his constitutionally questionable position with the State Auditor’s Office. Teresa put out a press release promoting herself.”

He added that Republicans “engaged in a Civil War during the primary season, which now has their party more divided than ever.”

“Democrats must not repeat that same mistake if we’re to take advantage of the opportunity we’ve been given by having our opponents so divided,” Pushkin continued. “”No individual person can take credit for the progress we’ve made. It was accomplished by Democrats in every corner of West Virginia who believe our state deserves better.

“The question before us now is simple. Do we spend our time fighting each other? Or do we spend our time fighting Republicans and winning elections? I know where my focus is,” he said.