In multi-member districts, Blankenship’s campaign sent out fliers that attacked several different members on several different issues. He would have been better to focus on one incumbent to overthrow and one Republican to support, LaCorte said.

“By the time someone takes it from the mailbox and throws it in the trash can, that’s all the time you have to make an impact,” he said.

Last year, the Legislature passed election reforms that required Blankenship to disclose his spending right away and put his name on every advertisement. That helped educate voters about who was behind the campaign, LaCorte said.

“I think the 527 reform helped the Democratic Party tremendously,” he said. “The more people knew about Blankenship, the less they liked him, the less they would vote for his candidates, according to our polls.”

Also, Manchin announced his tax cut proposal the week before the election, undercutting one of Blankenship’s main messages.

That same week, the Manchin administration also released a report on two miner deaths at a mine owned by a Massey Energy subsidiary. Administration officials denied that report’s release was politically motivated.

In Kanawha County, the number of straight-ticket Democratic voters went from 9,318 in the last midterm election to 13,778 Tuesday, an increase of more than 4,400 votes. Republicans failed to increase their numbers significantly, with only 6,856 straight-ticket voters.

Charleston City Councilman Dave Higgins helped chair a special committee set up to bring out the Democratic vote in Kanawha County. He said they encouraged straight-ticket voting through phone calls and signs.

They also put up yard signs with “Vote Democrat” and a picture of a rooster, a Democratic symbol that appears on state ballots. They revived an old saying, “pull the rooster’s tail,” to encourage straight-ticket votes.

McKinney said the national environment was toxic for Republicans this year because of issues like Iraq, and that filtered down to legislative races.

There’s some evidence for that argument nationwide. The National Council of State Legislatures reports that Democrats won 275 state legislative seats nationwide.

Higgins said national forces are only part of the story, though. For example, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., won re-election by a comfortable margin in Kanawha County and the 2nd Congressional District.

The state Republican Party has a lot of work ahead, McKinney said. Republicans are farther from their goal of winning the state Legislature, and they have $125,000 in debts to pay.

The GOP has learned there are no shortcuts to success, he said.

“Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for Republicans, that good things come only with hard work,” he said.

To contact staff writer Scott Finn, use e-mail or call 357-4323.