History
A state senator (Campbell) introduced an initiative and referendum
bill in 1907, and a state delegate (Williams) introduced one in 1908. Both
were defeated. In 1915, Governor Hatfield called for I&R in his annual
message to the legislature, but his words went unheeded. The biggest
obstacle to I&R in the Progressive era was probably the corporatebacked
Republican Party’s domination of West Virginia politics, which
lasted from 1896 to 1932. Still, the state’s I&R advocates were not without