Who has election fatigue already?
With some candidates announcing their 2024 intentions either just after the 2022 election or early in 2023, more than many years. It seemed nearly weekly, candidates were announcing their intentions for 2024 and filing pre-candidacy paperwork.
This year, 2024, could be a pivotal point in the West Virginia political landscape, so allow me to explain. Since 2014, Republicans in the state have held and grown the majority in both bodies of the Legislature. Several other constitutional offices have also been held by Republicans. In past elections, there was merely a desire to have all ballot spaces filled with one candidate. This year, there will be several primary races, and many are saying the primary is where the race will be determined.
Let’s start at the top, where Governor Jim Justice is one of three currently filed for U.S. Senate. The filing period opened last Monday, January 8, with U.S. Congressman Alex Mooney and Janet McNulty (both Eastern Panhandle residents) filing the first day. The Governor filed on Wednesday with much greater fanfare and is said to become the Republican nominee. More on this race coming.
For the second Congressional District – quite possibly the only state with the second district north of the first (insert eye roll here) – there are three Republicans and one Democrat who have filed so far. With just under two weeks to go, who knows how many will get in this race. The most well-known name of the four is current Treasurer Riley Moore, grandson of former Governor Arch Moore. In the First Congressional District, it is believed Republican incumbent Carol Miller will file, while two Democrats have already filed in hopes of replacing her.
The Governor’s race is not at all a quiet one. Currently, three candidates have filed for the seat now held by term-limited Governor Justice, including Poca resident Mitch Roberts and Secretary of State Mac Warner lining up the “elephants,” and Huntington Mayor Steve Williams as the Democrat nominee.
Several other candidates have been fundraising and are definitely going to enter the Governor’s race. First of these are former Delegate and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Moore Capito, the son of Senator Shelley Moore Capito and grandson of Governor Arch Moore; the current Attorney General, Patrick Morrisey; and Chris Miller, son of Congresswoman Carol Miller and grandson of Ohio Congressman Samuel L. Devine.
It will be interesting to see how the next couple of weeks play out regarding this race.
In the race for Auditor and Commissioner of Agriculture, all candidates filing to date are Republicans. In the Secretary of State race, our current Secretary of State’s brother, Kris Warner who is also the current executive director of the State Economic Development Authority and past Republican Party Chair, has filed as has political pundit, Thornton Cooper as the Democrat nominee. It will be interesting to see if other candidates file for these races.
All judicial races are non-partisan, but this will be the first election cycle for the recently formed Intermediate Court of Appeals. No candidates have filed for Attorney General in the Mountain State … yet.
Getting closer to home, W.Va. Sen. Ryan Weld, 1st Senatorial District, has filed for re-election with no challengers in the primary of general filing as of January 12. There have been no filings in the Second Senatorial District but W.Va. Sen. Mike Maroney is expected to file for re-election, and challenger Chris Rose is expected to file, as well. Rose has been pretty active on his social media page but had not filed candidacy paperwork by the end of the week.
After a great deal of thought and reflection, W.Va. Sen. Donna Boley has filed for re-election with no current opposition.
In the House, all local incumbents have filed:
- Pat McGeehan in the first;
- Mark Zatezelo in the second;
- Jimmy Willis in the third;
- Diana Winzenreid in the fourth;
- Shawn Fluharty in the fifth;
- Jeff Stephens in the sixth;
- Chuck Sheedy in the seventh;
- and David Kelly in the eighth.
Willis and Sheedy each have a Democrat opponent currently, and Kelly has a Republican challenger. It is believed that both Winzenreid and Stephens may pick up a primary opponent or two, as well as possibly a general challenger, as neither has been on ballots before. I understand there are people watching closely now that the Legislature has gaveled in for the second term of the 86th legislative session.
The next two weeks will definitely be an indication of how these legislators are perceived, but with the filling period ending with the wrap of the third week, it will be interesting to see if any votes with any true meat are cast during that time.
It is an interesting time to be in West Virginia, and this election season definitely will be different than most.
Follow the filings here, and follow Lede for more discussion as the filing period progresses.
