Patrick Morrisey Projected to Win West Virginia GOP Gubernatorial Primary, Staving Off Political Dynasties
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West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) is projected to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the Mountain State.
Decision Desk called the race for Morrisey at 9:18 p.m. ET. As of 9:35 p.m., roughly 77 percent of the vote was in, and Morrisey held a five-point lead, per the New York Times. He successfully staved off two political dynasties by beating out former State Delegate Moore Capito, the son of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Chris Miller, son of U.S. Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV). They were his top opponents in the crowded field, along with Secretary of State Mac Warner.
Decision Desk HQ projects Patrick Morrisey wins the Republican primary for Governor in West Virginia.#DecisionMade: 9:18pm ET pic.twitter.com/Xo8fN7P48Z
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) May 15, 2024
Morrisey, who Donald Trump Jr. called “the MAGA candidate” in the race, now advances to the general election in the deep red state where he will square off with Democrat Huntington Mayor Steve Williams. The men are vying to replace outgoing Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV), who is running for Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) seat in one of the GOP’s best flip opportunities in the country this cycle. Justice won his primary as well on Tuesday.
Both men are in a prime position for the general election. No Democrat has won a statewide race in West Virginia since Manchin did in 2018, and the state has gone red in every presidential election cycle this century. Moreover, the attorney general cruised to a nearly 30-point victory in his reelection bid in 2020, while Justice secured another term by a 33-point margin that year.
Morrisey joined Sirius XM's Breitbart News Saturday over the weekend and detailed how he would take the experience as a three-term attorney general to the governor’s mansion. He emphasized that the states are the lone solution to standing up to a “broken” Washington, DC.
“I think we can all reach an agreement that Washington is broken, and also that too much power has been shipped off to DC – too much money, too much power. … states [are] the only solution to fix the problems that ail us and that means that states have to stand up and say no to the federal juggernaut,” Morrisey said. “They need to say no to the regulatory power, and I’ve been working on that, obviously the big West Virginia EPA case and taking on federal agencies when they cross the line. But the states also need to say no, in terms of the financial resources as well.”
“So what I’m trying to do as governor is build upon the strength that I’ve showed as attorney general, where we used to organize 15, 20, 25 states; they’d come together on legal issues against the swamp,” he added. “As Governor, you have the ability to not only help direct on legal issues, but you can direct on financial, on economics, on policy, on PR…all across the board, and that means you can bring governors and state agencies and treasurers and all sorts of folks together really to be that bulwark against the federal government, and that’s badly needed. And that’s the kind of change that I’m going to deliver.”
He noted he thinks his vision is “consistent with President Trump’s America First agenda” adding he is “looking to make sure that the states are responsibly casting the power that President Trump is trying to send back to them.”
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