West Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Morrisey said in an ad that he would like to have an economic “backyard brawl” to outcompete the Mountain State’s neighbors.
The ad will air during the University of Pittsburgh-West Virginia University football game, known as the “Backyard Brawl,” on Saturday on ESPN.
Morrisey is the Republican nominee hoping to replace outgoing Gov. Jim Justice (R), who is now running for the state’s U.S. Senate seat.
Morrisey has pledged to engage in an economic backyard brawl to beat other neighboring states economically.
During an interview with Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle at the Republican National Convention in July, Morrisey called to abolish the state income tax.
He explained, “West Virginia really has an opportunity to lift itself up tremendously. Our standard of living, our educational attainment, drive workforce participation, and I’m an advocate that we can do that while maintaining our West Virginia conservative values.”
He continued, “I’d like to get rid of the income tax; it’s really important to compete better and be the only income-tax-free state in the region. We do that, we have school choice that’s dramatically expanded, and we do that while we keep our conservative values.”
“We’re talking, economically, we want to beat all of the states that we touch,” he said.
Morrisey also said that he hopes to “become much more aggressive competing with the other states,” referring to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.