West Virginia Governor Jim Justice (R) and US Senator Joe Manchin (L), Democrat of West Virginia, go to a roundtable discussion on the opioid epidemic with community and point out officials at the Cabell-Huntington Health Office in Huntington, West Virginia, July 8, 2019.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice is gearing up to start a 2024 Senate marketing campaign this 7 days, mounting a feasible problem to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in one of the country’s most important Senate races, a Republican resource shut to the governor informed CNBC on Monday.
Justice is set to make the announcement Thursday at 5 p.m. ET at The Greenbrier, his luxurious resort in White Sulphur Springs, the resource stated, confirming before reporting by Politico. The function is having place on Justice’s 72nd birthday.
The extensive-predicted transfer by Justice, who switched events in 2017 and has because become just one of the deep-crimson state’s most well-liked politicians, could additional imperil Democrats’ efforts to preserve their slender 51-49 the greater part in the Senate. West Virginia offers the GOP probably its greatest probability to flip a Democratic seat next yr.
Justice will be joined at Thursday’s celebration by a crowd of relatives, good friends, company associates and other folks from across the state, the GOP supply claimed, including that other senators may well also show up at the occasion. Justice’s three-and-a-50 %-12 months-aged English bulldog, Babydog, is also anticipated to be a notable component of the Senate campaign, the supply confirmed.
On the marketing campaign trail, Justice options to criticize the Biden administration when contrasting himself with both Manchin and declared GOP applicant Rep. Alex Mooney, the supply stated.
Manchin, 1 of the Senate’s most conservative Democrats, has mentioned he will never make a decision no matter if to operate for reelection until finally closer to the stop of the year, irrespective of Justice’s programs. Justice’s group thinks a Senate bid by the governor could make Manchin fewer very likely to seek out reelection, the GOP supply told CNBC very last month.
To encounter Manchin or an additional attainable Democratic candidate, Justice would initially have to acquire the state’s Republican key, exactly where Mooney has by now received a $10 million pledge from the conservative Club for Advancement. Previous President Donald Trump, who is deeply popular in West Virginia, backed Mooney in his most the latest Dwelling election.
Mooney’s campaign manager, John Findlay, on Monday referred to as Justice’s planned Senate bid a “awful strategy.”
“Jim Justice has a liberal report. Republican primary voters will quickly see he is a Democrat in sheep’s garments,” Findlay mentioned in a assertion to CNBC.
In the meantime, nationwide Republicans have seen Justice, reportedly his state’s wealthiest resident, as a prime recruit in their bid to gain the seat.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have inspired Justice to operate for the seat. He is expression-limited from running for governor all over again.
Spokespeople for Manchin did not straight away respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on Justice’s announcement designs.
If Manchin decides not to run for a 3rd expression, Democrats will deal with a appreciably a lot more overwhelming obstacle holding the seat from whichever Republican nominee emerges from the primary.
But victory is barely a ensure for Manchin if he operates yet again. In spite of his incumbent gain, significant war upper body and status for breaking with fellow Democrats, Manchin’s bash affiliation may be as well excellent an obstacle to overcome in a point out that voted for Trump by practically 40 points in 2020.
Manchin gained his very last Senate race in 2018 by just 3 percentage points.
Justice is set to announce his Senate bid at his have vacation resort, furthering intermingling the governor’s company and politics. That dynamic came underneath scrutiny in a 2019 ProPublica investigation and garnered criticism from Manchin.
