W.Va. (WSAZ) – With few spots left on the ballot this election year, West Virginia voters will begin casting primary votes on Tuesday at 6:30 a.m.
Polls in West Virginia will be open until 7:30 p.m
In Decision 2024, key races for governor and Congress hang in the balance among many, many others.
In the GOP nomination race to replace Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, Republican Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney are the leading GOP candidates trying to flip the seats red.
Don Blankenship, convicted of violating safety standards after a 2010 coal mine explosion killed 29 people, is running for the Senate seat as a Democrat, even though he ran for the Senate in 2018 as a Republican.
Blankenship will face Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, who has Manchin’s endorsement, and Marine Corps veteran Zach Shrewsbury.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the GOP nominee in the 2018 Senate race against Manchin, will run for governor in 2024, as will the sons of two members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation: car dealer Chris Miller, whose mother is Republican Carol Miller , and former state Rep. Moore Capito, whose mother is Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and whose grandfather is the tardy Gov. Arch A. Moore Jr.
West Virginia gubernatorial candidates are making one last effort on the campaign trail
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner is also running for governor. Two lesser-known candidates will also appear on the GOP ballot – Kevin Christian and Mitch Roberts.
On the Democratic side, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams has no opposition.
In the 1st District, Derrick Evans, a former member of the House of Delegates who served a three-month sentence after live-streaming his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, is running against incumbent Carol Miller.
In addition to open seats for governor, U.S. senator and West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, there are primaries for many statewide offices, including secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and attorney general.
As of March 31, there were 1,172,783 registered voters in West Virginia. Of those, 31 percent were Democrats and 40 percent were Republicans.
As of May 9, a total of 55,358 ballots had been cast for the primary election.
The general election will be held on Tuesday, November 5.
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