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West Virginia lawmakers at the state and federal levels are looking to welcome disaffected Virginians into Mountaineer country after Democrats swept elections this week with Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and Attorney General-elect Jay Jones winning big.

Virginia and West Virginia were a unified state until June 1863 – when the ultimate result of the “Wheeling Convention” saw delegates in western counties vote to split from the east in order to prevent forcibly seceding from the U.S. as that effort percolated in Richmond.

That split may be seeing evidence of mending, as a West Virginia lawmaker announced plans Thursday to invite several western Virginia counties and those in Maryland’s Western Panhandle to join West Virginia.

VIRGINIA

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