Governor Jim Justice will travel to Washington DC as West Virginia’s recent Senator. The Associated Press called the race for justice as soon as the polls closed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
As of 11:43 p.m., 90% of the state’s votes have been counted, Justice – a Republican – had received 68.8% of the vote, while his Democratic challenger Glenn Elliott, the former mayor of Wheeling, received 27.7% of the vote. David Moran, the Libertarian candidate, had received 3.5% of the vote.
Justice will meet with U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito in Washington, DC. This is the first time since 1958 that two Republicans have represented West Virginia in the U.S. Senate. The seat he occupies has been held by Sen. Joe Manchin, IW.Va., since 2010. Manchin – after leaving the Democratic Party in May to register as a self-employed person – announced last year that he would not stand for re-election.
In his acceptance speech Tuesday night, Justice took the stage with his family at the Greenbrier Hotel and Resort, where he reflected on his accomplishments during his two terms as governor. He compared himself to the underdog boxer Cassius Clay – later known as Muhammed Ali – who defeated reigning champion Sonny Liston for the 1964 world heavyweight championship.
“He took out Sonny Liston and won. And then he said, ‘I shook up the world,'” Justice said. “Well, I tell you this with all my heart: You shook up the world, we shook up the world… and now the challenges with what’s going on in DC are incredible.”
The judge’s speech contained few details about what he planned to do when he arrived in the nation’s capital.
Justice has served as governor of West Virginia since being elected as a Democrat in 2016. In 2017, when he appeared on stage with former President Donald Trump in HuntingtonJustice announced he would Register as a Republican and leaving the Democratic Party.
In the years since and after his re-election in 2020, Justice has remained true to his staunchly conservative views. As governor, he is a staunch opponent of abortion. to have signed a near-total ban on abortion in the state in 2022 following the overturn of Roe v. Wade at the federal level. He has supports and advocated numerous policies that undermine the rights of LGBTQ+ people, including Boundaries on medically based gender-affirming care and a bill that would have banned transgender children from competing on high school sports teams that match their gender identity.
Since 2020, Justice has been a vocal critic of President Joe Biden and his administration’s policies. He is a long-time coal mining operator regularly spends his weekly virtual press conferences complain the country’s energy policy and Blaming Biden, former President Barack Obama and other Democrats for the continued decline in coal production.
Justice also was vocal about his concerns about the “crisis” at the country’s southern border and blamed illegal immigration for the surge in fentanyl-related overdoses in West Virginia despite evidence that the majority of drug trafficking is the product of U.S. citizens. In 2023, he sent members of the West Virginia National Guard to Eagle Pass, Texas, for a week Volunteering at the border.
The mission — which was criticized as a political ploy in both West Virginia and Texas ahead of the 2024 primaries — came at a cost to West Virginia taxpayers more than $900,000accordingly Documents from the National Guard.
Justice’s election to the Senate comes months later bad news And challenges for his The family business empirewhich owes millions to numerous banks, federal agencies and local governments due to unpaid fines, taxes and loans.
Last month it was announced that the Greenbrier Hotel – a luxury resort and Tourism destination in the possession of the judiciary – was, yet againintended for compulsory enforcement and public auction because his family defaulted on millions of dollars in loans used to purchase the resort. On October 15, the Justice family announced that it had refinanced its debt. to avert the auction a second time. justice Thank God However, in order to clarify the situation, no details were revealed about where the money came from or how the family paid off their debts
The Justice family case, valued at approximately $530,000, is ongoing Debt to the federal government for a decade of unpaid health and safety fines at the family-run coal mines. Federal prosecutors I asked a judge To condemn 23 Justice family coal mines for non-payment. The companies’ lawyers claim this is the case too penniless to pay, Politics and the ongoing decline in coal production across the country are to blame.
Despite these challenges, the judiciary has persevered a forceful and stable lead about Elliott throughout election season. He has repeatedly positioned himself as Businessman about being a politician.
As governor he has claimed for years that he is not involved at all in his family’s business and instead leaves his children in charge. However, it still lists the companies to its financial disclosures and is often mentioned in court cases when banks or governments make a request collect the debts they are owed.
Justice has refused to transfer most of his companies into a blind trust during his term as governor. In May, after his primary victory against Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., Justice said this would also be the case if he were elected to the Senate.
In the months leading up to Tuesday’s election, Justice was confident he would win the Senate seat. However, details about what he will do there are thin.
In October, he told reporters that he believed he would do well in a position overseeing either energy or business policy. But questions – from members of both major political parties – remain how busy Justice will be like a senator.
For years he has been criticized for being a absent governor. Despite a court decision orders him to stay there Instead, in the state capital — a constitutional requirement for anyone serving as governor — Justice continues to live at his home in Lewisburg and travel several hours to and from Charleston when necessary.
He was largely absent during the state’s 60-day legislative sessions and refused to make the media and media available on numerous occasions other with copies of his official schedule, with his office saying he doesn’t keep any.
He did the same during his time as governor continues to work as a trainer High school basketball in Greenbrier County, a job he told reporters He might keep last year if elected to the Senate.
Last month, Politico reported that these habits could have consequences for Senate Republicans, who — depending on the official election results that come in after Tuesday night — could control the body by a narrow majority and need every vote they can get to achieve their policy goals.
