There’s some familiar names among the six Republicans running to succeed term-limited Gov. Jim Justice in West Virginia’s May 14 GOP gubernatorial primary.
Two members of Mr. Justice’s cabinet—State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and State Secretary of State Mac Warner—are in the running.
Also on the ballot is former state Del. Moore Capito, whose mother is U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) and grandfather was Gov. Arch A. Moore Jr., and businessman Chris Miller, whose mother is Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.V.) and is facing a challenging primary in her reelection bid.
The winner of the GOP preliminary between these four candidates and the lesser-known Kevin Christian and Mitch Roberts will take on three-term Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, unopposed in the Democrat primary, in November as the prohibitive favorite in deep red West Virginia.
Mr. Morrisey, the 2018 Republican challenger to outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), has been state attorney general since 2012 and has aggressively challenged the Obama and Biden administration’s environmental regulations.
He has been leading in the polls for months. But Mr. Capito appears to be gaining momentum in what is narrowing into a two-candidate affair.
In a May 2–5 survey of 558 likely voters by Emerson College for The Hill and Nexstar, 28 percent of those queried preferred Mr. Morrisey, 25 percent preferred Mr. Capito, 19 percent said they were voting for Mr. Miller, and 12 percent favored Mr. Warner.
Mr. Capito has gained double-digits in polling over the last two months. Before March, he was often polling in third or fourth place with lower-teen percentages.
Mr. Morrisey and Mr. Capito are also first and second in fundraising totals, according to their April 28 campaign filings with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office.
Mr. Morrisey’s campaign reports raising $3.624 million, spending $3 million, with $695,276.58 in the bank two weeks before May 14’s primary. At least $132,000 in contributions come from self-loans.
Mr. Capito’s campaign reports raising $2.131 million, spending $1.52 million, with $600,000 cash-on-hand on April 28. Contributions include at least $270,000 in “self-donations.”
Mr. Miller, who owns car dealerships in the Huntington area, is mostly self-funded—including a $2.1 million loan. Mr. Warner, himself a scion of a long-prominent West Virginia political family (his brother is a former state GOP chair), has raised $600,000, spent $379,000 and had about $170,000 in the bank on April 28.
Little Shade, Lots Of Sludge
West Virginia’s gubernatorial race is among 11 2024 governor elections, eight of which are currently held by Republicans. Heading into the 2024 election cycle, 27 governors are Republicans and 23 are Democrats.There’s little shade in policy among the top four contenders. All vow to support West Virginia’s coal industry while welcoming “all-of-the-above” energy development, supporting harsher sentences on fentanyl dealers, improving the state’s poor public school academic performances by advancing school choice, and supporting the position that there’s no such thing as “transgender rights” in the Mountaineer State.
As with other GOP preliminary races up-and-down the ballot, policy discussion has taken a back seat to who would be most effective in implementing President Trump’s MAGA agenda beginning in 2025.
Mr. Morrisey has been endorsed and supported on the campaign trail by former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump, Jr.
“[Mr.] Morrisey has been pro-Trump since day one and has always been a warrior for the America First movement,” Trump Jr. said in a May 7 social media post. “He’s 100% MAGA and will make a great Governor of West Virginia!”
Mr. Capito, who resigned midway through his fourth term as House delegate where he served as Judiciary Committee chair to run for governor, has garnered Mr. Justice’s endorsement as the Republican best-suited to assume his term-limited seat.
“Many of you asked me who would do the best job as our next governor. I say Moore Capito,” he said in a commercial for Mr. Capito’s campaign featuring his English bulldog, Babydog.
“He’s the only Republican I endorsed,” Mr. Justice said. “Simply put: You trusted me. We pulled the rope together. We’ve got to make the right decision because you’re worth it. Babydog and I stand with Moore Capito.”
In his campaigning, Mr. Morrisey took time to note that Mr. Capito’s mother, Sen. Capito (R-W.V.), was ripped by President Trump for her February 2024 vote to send more U.S. aid to Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war.
“She’s not up for reelection this year, but her RINO son is running for Governor of West Virginia,” Mr. Trump Jr. said in a February X post. “MAGA – Send a message to the Ukraine First RINOs & OPPOSE.”
Mr. Capito has also taken fire for adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s Human Rights Act that protects against employment and housing discrimination.
Mr. Miller, regarded as a viable dark horse, has been chastised for his alleged failure to suppress LGBTQ advocacy at Marshall University while he served on its Board of Governors.
Mr. Morrisey has not escaped the character attacks with Mr. Capito and others reminding voters that before he was attorney general, he was a pharmaceutical company lobbyist.
