Jim Justice announces run for Joe Manchin’s Senate seat
David Sivak
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Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) announced on Thursday that he will run for Senate in West Virginia, teeing up what is expected to be a bruising GOP primary to challenge Joe Manchin (D-WV) for his Senate seat in 2024.
Justice, who spent months hinting at a bid, finally made his candidacy official at his Greenbriar Resort in White Sulphur Springs just hours after filing paperwork to run.
“I am officially announcing my candidacy for the United States Senate, and I absolutely will promise you to God above that I will do the job, and I will do the job that will make you proud,” he told an audience of supporters.
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His entrance into the race is a major win for national Republicans, who have been recruiting the term-limited governor, a popular figure in the state who brings to the contest deep pockets as a wealthy businessman.
“Jim Justice is a proven winner whose record of creating jobs, cutting taxes, and fighting for conservative values has made him one of the most popular governors in the country,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), chairman of the Senate GOP campaign arm, said in a statement.
Manchin has been able to hold on to the seat despite West Virginia trending increasingly red over his 12 years in the Senate. He is the last Democrat to hold statewide office.
The state went for former President Donald Trump by 39 points in the 2020 election, and Senate Republicans view flipping the seat as critical to reclaiming the majority in 2024.
“This is about taking back the majority in the United States Senate,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said at the launch event.
“There is no way we take back the majority if we don’t win here,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in his introduction of Justice.
Manchin welcomed news of the announcement, telling reporters, “Let the games begin.”
The senator has not said whether he will run for reelection, a decision he’s waiting to announce until the end of the year. But he released a statement Thursday morning signaling confidence that he can beat Justice.
“I am laser focused on doing the job West Virginians elected me to do — lowering healthcare costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, shoring up American energy security, and getting our fiscal house in order,” he said ahead of Justice’s announcement. “But make no mistake: I will win any race I enter.”
Should Justice face off against Manchin, it would mark a dramatic break for the onetime allies. Manchin endorsed Justice’s first run for governor in 2016 before Justice, then a Democrat, switched to the Republican Party.
But first, Justice must overcome a costly and bitter fight for the GOP nomination. Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), who announced his candidacy for the seat just days after winning reelection to the House, has the backing of the Club for Growth, an influential conservative group that spent some $100 million in the last election cycle.
The organization has already committed to spending at least $10 million in the West Virginia primary to counter the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
National Democrats are relishing the fight, believing the eventual GOP nominee will emerge from the GOP primary bruised and battered.
“You’ve got two candidates that are likely to be in a very contentious primary, and whoever emerges out of that primary will lose to Joe Manchin if he decides to run for Senate,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), the head of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, told reporters on Thursday.
Republicans aren’t waiting for Manchin to get into the race to level attacks on him. The McConnell-linked group One Nation is spending $1 million on a new ad highlighting Manchin’s vote for President Joe Biden’s marquee legislative accomplishment, the Inflation Reduction Act, a sweeping tax, climate, and healthcare bill that Republicans claim puts “100,000 West Virginia jobs” at risk.
Manchin, known to be a thorn in Democrats’ side, has taken an increasingly hard line against the president in recent months. He threatened to back a repeal of the legislation this week, accusing the administration of disregarding its investments in fossil fuels, and has sided with Republicans in several votes to undo Biden administration regulations.
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But it’s Justice’s reputation in the state — he’s been rated one of the most popular governors in the country — that has Republicans betting he will be able to unseat Manchin.
“He just passed the biggest tax cut in West Virginia history, and so he’s got a good record to run on, and I think he’s somebody that people in his state really relate to and like,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) told reporters on Thursday.