WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin has endorsed Democratic challenger Sam Brown Petsonk in the West Virginia Attorney General race.
Manchin, a Democrat, made the endorsement October 5. In 2018, Manchin defeated incumbent Republican AG Patrick Morrisey in the U.S. Senate race.
In his endorsement, Manchin emphasized the importance of protecting access to affordable health care for West Virginians. Petsonk has made that issue a cornerstone of his campaign, saying Morrisey is pushing to eliminate health care protections including those for people with pre-existing conditions.
Manchin
“Now more than ever, West Virginia needs an Attorney General who will fight to make sure their health care isn't taken away because of pre-existing conditions like diabetes, pregnancy, or high blood pressure," Manchin said in his endorsement. "I know Sam Petsonk, and he is that man. In 2018, Patrick Morrisey was on a crusade to cut healthcare for hundreds of thousands of West Virginians and now in 2020, even in the middle of a global health pandemic, he continues to fight for a lawsuit that would eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
"As a ninth-generation West Virginian and a lawyer that has fought for our coal miners and our schools, Sam Petsonk understands the importance of protecting West Virginia and that’s why I am endorsing him to be West Virginia’s next Attorney General. Morrisey is dangerous for West Virginia and he must go home to New Jersey.”
Petsonk and the Democratic Attorneys General Association say Morrisey part in the Republican lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act, sometimes called Obamacare, is troublesome as well. That case will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court just one week after Election Day. Petsonk and the DAGA say, if successful, Morrisey's lawsuit would "increase prescription drug costs for retirees, strip coverage from nearly 200,000 West Virginians and allow insurance companies to once again discriminate against the 716,400 West Virginians with pre-existing conditions (like black lung, asthma and COVID-19)."
Thirty doctors from across West Virginia recently called out AG Morrisey’s dangerous attack on health care, asking AG Morrisey to withdraw his harmful lawsuit.
Morrisey is seeking his third term as West Virginia's AG. The general election is scheduled for November 3.