Governor Jim Justice boasted during his weekly government briefing that he “didn’t put up a single sign” in the primary and still won by “over 35 points.”
This came after MetroNews’ Brad McElhinny asked him if he would be willing to debate his opponent in the U.S. Senate, Democrat Glenn Elliott.
“The people of this state know me. They know me and they know me really well,” Justice said. “I’ve done almost no campaigning at all.”
It turns out that West Virginians don’t really know the justice system very well. According to a Opinion poll When MetroNews reported on a poll earlier this month, most people said they had heard nothing or “little” about Justice’s financial problems.
This survey was conducted after 1) the Greenbrier Hotel nearly auctioned due to a loan default, 2) the employees of the Greenbrier Resort lost almost health insurance3) the government held 23 coal mines owned by the Justice family in contempt for non-payment of fines in the area of health and safety and 4) several Liens were brought against the Greenbrier Group for failing to pay millions in taxes.
And that’s not even half of the financial problems facing the Justice family business. They have been piling up for more than a decade.
It’s understandable that not everyone can keep up with all the news – there’s always a lot to report and the news cycle changes quickly. I read news all day and sometimes miss something.
A debate actually gives voters a chance to gain insight into a candidate’s mindset. Sure, they’ve probably done some research in advance about what they think might be asked of them, but they have to react quickly.
In addition, voters will learn the exact time at which they can see both candidates answer the same questions.
“We don’t need one debate, we don’t need 5,000 debates,” Justice said. “We had a little debate with one of the newspapers in Morgantown and it was good, it was great. I said it in our little debate there, I wish Glenn the very best.”
The tiny debate he refers to is a meeting between Justice and Elliott with the editors of The Dominion PostThe men answered a few questions – about immigration, energy, The Greenbrier and the decriminalization of marijuana – without providing many details.
“From a Senate campaign perspective, the race is over,” Justice said during his weekly briefing. “We’re going to win the race.”
In the meantime, Elliott traveled to all 55 counties in West Virginia until August 29 to meet with voters.
No matter how much the polls predict you will win, you owe it to the people of West Virginia to make an effort and tell them why you are running for U.S. Senate.
Two of our gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Steve Williams and Republican Patrick Morrisey, have committed to a debateand Williams’ campaign team has told us it will take place on Wednesday, October 30. We are still awaiting a response on the time and location.
Last month, MetroNews West Virginia’s poll found that neither Elliott nor Williams are known outside their local areas.
Williams is the current mayor of Huntington and Elliott is the former mayor of Wheeling. Morrisey has served as the state’s attorney general since 2013.
Morrisey and Justice have been in the news often because of their statewide positions, but the mayors haven’t had the same advantage. Debates would be a great way to let more people know about them and their differences from their opponents.
The race is not over yet. There are still 42 days left until the election to win over undecided voters.
