Cecil Harland Underwood was an American Republican Party politician from West Virginia, known for the length of his career.

The 2000 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Republican Governor Cecil Underwood ran for re-election to a second consecutive term in office, but was defeated by Democratic U.S. Representative Bob Wise. Concurrently, the state voted for the opposite party federally, choosing Republican nominee, George W. Bush over Democratic nominee Al Gore in the presidential election that year. To date, this was the last time in which an incumbent West Virginia Governor lost re-election.