Elliott takes Democratic nomination for Senate, will face off against Justice in November

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, with Babydog and First Lady Cathy, speaks after winning the Republican nomination for Sen. Joe Manchin's vacated U.S. Senate seat. (Caity Coyne | West Virginia Watch)

After a back-and-forth race against community organizer Zach Shrewsbury and with 41 of 55 counties reporting, Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott received about 45% of votes cast in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday and will face off in November against Gov. Jim Justice for the congressional seat soon-to-be vacated by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Justice firmly won the Republican nomination against Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., with nearly 62% of votes cast against Mooney’s 27% as of 11 p.m.

In the Democratic primary, Shrewsbury — who ran his campaign largely as a political outsider — earned 36% of the vote, while ex-coal executive Don Blankenship took 18% of votes as of 11 p.m.

Elliott, an attorney by trade who has served as Wheeling’s mayor since 2016, said he’s looking forward to the campaign for the general election and hopes to see it used as a unifying force for Democrats.

“Obviously it feels good to win, but the reality is that I’m going to wake up tomorrow morning down 35-plus points in the polls, so the reality is the hard part starts tomorrow,” Elliott said in an interview Tuesday evening.

Justice is heavily favored to secure the seat, and while Elliott sees the upward battle ahead, he said he plans to travel the state during the campaign and talk to West Virginians about “the real issues” in their lives instead of culture war issues, which have largely dominated Republican talking points on almost all levels this campaign.

He predicted that his greatest challenge will likely be getting West Virginians to become familiar with him. His strongest results in the primary came from northern panhandle, where residents in Wheeling and surrounding areas have watched him work as mayor for the last eight years.

Elliott commended the efforts of the Shrewsbury campaign, which he said fought a hard race for the nomination. Come the campaign for the general, Elliott said he hopes to see the different factions of Democrats in the state work together for a victory.

“It’s imperative that Democrats come together going into this general election,” Elliott said. “I think our differences aren’t nearly as great as they’re often portrayed in a campaign, I think they’re minor. I get that some people want to go further on some issues, but look at where the Republicans are.”

Justice has served as governor since 2016, when he was elected as a Democrat with the support of Manchin whose congressional seat he is heavily favored to take in the general election.

In 2017, Justice announced his switch to the Republican Party while onstage at a campaign rally in Huntington for his “good friend,” former President Donald Trump, who he said Tuesday he “hopes and prays” wins the election in November. 

Since his party switch, Justice has fully committed to the right side of the aisle, regularly decrying President Joe Biden and his administration for its “wokeness,” as he said during remarks on Tuesday.

Justice is staunchly anti-abortion, pro-gun and pro-coal, coming out strongly against proposed climate actions meant to alleviate the very real harm of climate change. 

After winning Tuesday’s nomination, Justice said if he’s elected in November, he wouldn’t be going to D.C. to “just go up there and be a part of the [Republican] Party.”

“I’m going there to shake up the world,” he said.

When asked how he would approach doing so, Justice listed the ways he believed the government was going in “the wrong direction,” specifically in regard to energy policy and the southern border. 

Under Justice’s leadership, troubles have persisted in the state of West Virginia. Currently, the state is under states of emergency for educational challenges and issues in its beleaguered jail system (two of which have been declared since he took office). There is an ongoing shortage of both workers and placements to support the state’s thousands of foster children. Health care outcomes continue to be among the worst in the nation for the state’s residents. Infrastructure challenges also persist, with thousands of West Virginians still unable to access clean drinking water in their homes. Those that can — and even some that cannot — pay some of the highest utility rates in the nation.

As governor, Justice has faced criticism due to a lack of transparency from his administration as well as being largely absent from the state capitol, opting to drive into work from his home in Greenbrier County on the days he shows up instead of residing in Charleston as ordered in the state constitution. He regularly struggles with punctuality, starting press conferences sometimes an hour past their scheduled start times. 

When asked by West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Randy Yohe if he sees that struggle impacting his service on the Hill — where being late means missing critical votes — he said, “I can tell you that if there is a vote that has to be made at a specific time, someway or somehow I always make it.” As governor, Justice does not cast votes on legislation.

Justice has said, if elected to the Senate, he will have to approach holding the office in “[his] style.” He plans to continue coaching girls’ basketball at Greenbrier East High School, saying in March, “I hate to say this, but I’ll do the job as far as being a senator if that works out that way, but I’m going to coach.”

Over the past few years, Justice’s family business empire — which he claims he is no longer involved in despite listing the companies and holdings as assets on finance reports and refusing to enter most into a blind trust while holding — has also struggled, coming under fire for millions in unpaid taxes, safety fines and more.

On Tuesday, he said his family — who, according to him, run the businesses — are fulfilling all of their financial obligations, though admitted “they’re probably a bit behind” on several payments.

When asked if he would willingly put his businesses in a blind trust if elected in November, he said “probably not.”

“My kids do a good job,” he said, but if they wanted to ask his advice on business decisions, he continued, he wants to be able to give his input.

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