Putnam residents will continue to vote in the 4th and 8th Senatorial Districts. Precincts south of the Kanawha River will continue to vote in the 4th District and precincts north of the river will continue to vote in the 8th.
Each senatorial district is represented by two senators who are elected to four year terms. Since the redistricting following the 2010 census, the 4th Senatorial District has been represented by a senator residing in Putnam County and a senator residing within a county other than Putnam. Likewise in the 8th District, where one senator has been from Putnam and the other from Kanawha County. State law does not allow the election of both senators from a single county unless the senate district territory is totally contained within the county. The 17th District is the only district to be in within the bounds of one county.
Future representation in both the 4th and 8th Senatorial Districts is likely to change because the make up of both have changed. The old 4th District consisting of the southern portion of Putnam, all of Mason and most of Jackson had a population distribution that favored candidates from Putnam and Jackson. The new 4th District is made up of southern Putnam, northern Cabell, all of Mason and western Jackson counties. The new population distribution of the district makes for the election of a candidate from Putnam and a candidate from Mason.
Representation in the 8th Senatorial District will change. The old 8th District was dominated by voters of Kanawha County. The new 8th still has all its Putnam voters but most of the Kanawha voters will be replaced by voters in eastern Jackson County and voters in Roane and Clay Counties. The only area of Kanawha remaining in the 8th district is the Nitro/Cross Lanes area. The population distribution of the new district is not dominated by any one county. Election of candidates is possible from any of the five counties except Clay is possible.
The State Senate approved the new senatorial district lines by a 30-2 vote. The only senators to oppose the redistricting lines were Glenn Jeffries (D-Putnam) and Tom Takubo (D-Kanawha).
