GOVERNOR
Due to Governor Jim Justice (R) being term limited, the West Virginia governorship is an open-seat race this November.
The Republican ballot was crowded, and in the days leading up to the primary, polls showed that 16 percent of Republican voters were undecided and the margin between the top two candidates was three percent. In the end, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) is one step closer to the governor’s office after finishing the day with a plurality, approximately 33%, of the votes. Morrisey defeated three other republican candidates, including former State Representative Moore Capito, businessman Chris Miller, and West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner.
Patrick Morrisey is the state’s three-term attorney general who first took office in 2013. Morrisey is well known for his headlining legal battles, having joined national lawsuits over immigration and vaccine mandates and negotiating settlements for the state against opioid companies. Morrisey has focused his campaign on a litany of issues, including eliminating the state income tax, building out broadband, promoting small business, improving workforce participation, and advocating for gun owners’ rights. Morrisey has raised more than $3.6 million to date, with around $695,277 cash on hand. He has also been heavily supported by national advocacy groups when it comes to campaign funding.
Morrisey will face Huntington Mayor Steve Williams (D), who ran unopposed in yesterday’s Democratic primary. Williams was first elected in 2012 and is the first three-term mayor in Huntington history. Williams also served on Huntington City Council and was a four term Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. Workers’ rights, infrastructure, and education are at the top of Williams’ list of priorities for his gubernatorial campaign. To date, Williams has spent a little over $1000 on his campaign and has around $30,000 cash on hand.
The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have rated this race as solid Republican.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Following Morrisey’s decision to run for the governor’s office, two candidates from each party joined the race to fill the seat.
On the Republican ballot, John “JB” McCuskey and Mike Stuart competed for the slot. A recent poll had McCuskey at 37% and Stuart at 36% with 27% of voters still undecided. But in the end McCuskey secured the Republican nomination with 60% of the vote.
McCuskey began his political career in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2012. He served in the state house until he successfully ran for state auditor in 2016. As auditor, McCuskey has launched a tax data portal, expanded use of the state’s purchasing card, and established a public integrity and fraud investigations unit. His campaign for attorney general focuses on securing additional government transparency, reproductive health policies, protecting the second amendment, public safety, lower taxes, reducing regulations in agriculture, federal pushback, and growth of the coal industry.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Richie Robb and Teresa Toriseva competed for a chance to face the Republican nominee with Toriseva clinching the Democratic nomination after winning 53% of votes. She is an attorney in Wheeling and runs her own practice. She previously ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat in the state house. Her campaign for attorney general centers on her 30 years of courtroom experience and protecting equal rights for all. Her courtroom experience includes nine stints as a special assistant attorney general. Toriseva sees civil case representation as a core duty of the attorney general rather than expanded criminal prosecution abilities. Consumer protection, crime, transparency, local communities, energy, reproductive rights, and protection of the second amendment are other tenets of Toriseva’s campaign.
STATE TREASURER
Former State Delegate Larry Pack (R) ran unopposed in the Republican primary for treasurer. Elected to the West Virginia State House in 2020, Pack resigned in 2022 to join Governor Justice’s administration as a senior advisor. Upon graduation from the West Virginia Institute of Technology, Pack passed the CPA exam and began practicing public accounting. He has a long career as an entrepreneur and was a founding member and CEO of Stonerise Healthcare LLC until 2022. Pack is currently the National Committeeman for the West Virginia Republican Party. If elected, Pack pledges to curb ESG and “woke investing,” improve financial literacy across the state, prioritize the public pension system and retirement accounts, and curtail government spending.
No candidates were on the ballot for treasurer in the Democratic primary. Barring the event of a groundbreaking write-in campaign, Pack will assume the office of state treasurer. The write-in candidate filing deadline is September 17.
STATE LEGISLATURE
All 100 seats in the West Virginia House of Delegates, and 17 out of 34 senate seats, are up for reelection in 2024. Republicans currently hold an 89-11 supermajority in the house, and a 31-3 supermajority in the senate. 16 incumbents in the house, and three in the senate, did not file for reelection. These include current House Majority Leader Eric Householder (R) who is running for State Auditor, and House Speaker Pro Tempore Paul Espinosa (R) who is running for a senate seat. Republicans are expected to maintain their strong majorities in both chambers.
In a surprising turn of events, Senate President Craig Blair (R) lost his primary to Martinsburg area attorney, Tom Willis. Lawmakers will select a new leader of the upper chamber prior to January.