West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) filed paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate on Thursday ahead of an expected announcement in White Sulphur Springs later in the day.
Justice is tipped to make public his intentions at an event at The Greenbrier, his luxury resort.
His announcement hands the Republicans a well-funded and popular candidate to go up against Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the state’s current Democrat senator who has not announced his intentions for 2024.
However, the seat will be highly contested and one of the most closely watched primaries as he will be running against Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), who already announced he would be running for the seat, and in the general if Manchin decides to run again.
Justice, who has close ties to former president Donald Trump, enjoys high approval ratings and has personal wealth. In addition to running statewide and winning the governorship twice, he was reportedly heavily recruited by the Senate Republican’s campaign arm. On the other hand, the conservative Club for Growth has already committed to spending over $10 million, if they need to, to get Mooney elected.
Both candidates will be vying for Trump’s endorsement.
File/U.S. President Donald Trump is introduced by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) during a salute to service dinner at the Greenbrier Resort on June 3, 2018 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The president was participating in a military tribute on the eve of Independence Day. (Mark Wilson/Getty)
Manchin, the moderate Democrat incumbent, has yet to decide if he will run for reelection to keep his seat, in addition to not saying if he would instead run for president or as a Democrat in the upcoming election.
He did, however, respond to the news of Justice filing paperwork to run for Senate by stating he is “laser focused on doing the job West Virginians elected me to do – lowering healthcare costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, shoring up American energy security and getting our fiscal house in order.”
“But make no mistake, I will win any race I enter,” Manchin added.
The UVA Center for Politics marked West Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat as “Lean Republican” in the first set of projections for the 2024 cycle. Sabato’s Crystal Ball Managing Editor Kyle Kondik noted that starting the incumbent as an “underdog” with the “Lean Republican” rating is “fairly unusual.”
The projection further explained that this rating is partially due to Manchin being undecided on reelection and the state’s political landscape changing since he last ran.
In 2018 when he ran for reelection, Manchin won by roughly three points against state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) in a good midterm year for Democrats, but the state has become redder over the years. During the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump won the state by roughly 40 points.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.