The race for the Republican nomination to succeed termed-out GOP Gov. Jim Justice appears down to State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and State Delegate Moore Capito.
According to a just-completed West Virginia Chamber of Commerce poll, Morrisey, who lost a heart-breakingly close race to Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin in 2018, is backed by 31% of likely primary voters and Capito, son of GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, is backed by 30%.
The survey showed all other GOP contenders are in single digits: Secretary of State Mac Warner 9%, automobile dealer Chris Miller 5%, and State Auditor J.B McCuskey 3%. McCuskey last week abandoned the gubernatorial primary to run for the state attorney general's office that Morrisey is giving up.
As the Mountaineer State's crusading attorney general since 2012 and the first Republican to hold that office in 80 years, Morrisey has a strong following on the right. He has filed numerous suits against the Environmental Protection Agency, and Drug Enforcement as well as several suits on behalf of gun ownership.
But Capito is no pushover. As the son of a senator and grandson of the late three-term Gov. Arch Moore, he is as well known as Morrisey and chairs the Judiciary Committee of the State House of Delegates.
So far the only Democrat to announce for governor is Huntington Mayor Steve Williams.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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