CHARLESTON – State Senator and former U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart has announced his candidacy for West Virginia Attorney General.
Stuart made the announcement May 2 at a press conference in Charleston.
“I am the right person at the right time with the right experience and background to be the next Attorney General,” Stuart said. “I have a big record of taking on powerful forces and winning at the highest levels. I am a proven conservative with a proven record and built to be a strong attorney general.”
He joins fellow Republican and state Senator Ryan Weld in seeking to replace current AG Patrick Morrisey, who is running for governor.
Stuart says his priorities as AG would be similar to the issues he dealt with as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia under President Donald Trump.
“The opiate and drug scourge, protecting law enforcement and our veterans, federal and regulatory overreach, corruption, Medicaid and consumer fraud, elder abuse, domestic violence and protecting our children,” Stuart said. “I carry in my pocket each day a wallet filled with the beautiful faces of victims of the opiate crisis. It’s those faces that re-inspire me each day.
“It’s those pictures that compelled me to run for Attorney General. Those pictures haunt me in the dark of night and they remind me of the profound importance of our work.”
Stuart’s campaign already has received the endorsement of former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
“I’m proud to endorse Mike Stuart for Attorney General of West Virginia,” Whitaker said in a press release. “Mike was a strong United States Attorney, and he will be a strong West Virginia Attorney General.
“We live in a dangerous world where traditional American values, and American jobs are under assault each and every day. Mike’s a natural leader, a fighter and a strong conservative who will aggressively defend our families, coal, natural gas, American energy, the Second Amendment, the unborn, and ferociously protect the values of the people of West Virginia. He will always put America First.”
Stuart said he will “fight with all I can muster every single day for the people of West Virginia.”
“The Biden Administration, radical woke liberal policies, climate crazies and the war on coal, natural gas and American energy, open borders, the free flow of deadly drugs, soft on crime policies, and the federal regulatory state are engaging in a deliberate assault on the people of West Virginia and our jobs, our families and our way of life,” Stuart said. “We cannot afford to elevate a RINO to the critically important role of attorney general. The liberals have attacked our freedom, our faith, and our families.
“The next Attorney General must be a proven conservative with a conservative record who is able to get to work on Day 1 without needing to learn on the job. If elected, I intend to continue the work of Attorney General Morrisey and even expand his fight with a sense of urgency for a better future for the people of West Virginia.”
Stuart also has served as chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party and West Virginia co-chair of Trump’s 2016 campaign. In 2022, Stuart was elected to the state Senate.
He was born in Philippi and attended public schools in Morgantown. He graduated with degrees in political science and accounting from West Virginia University and, after working as an accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Pittsburgh, attended Boston University’s School of Law.
“I understand the challenges of the people of West Virginia because my story is a West Virginia story,” Stuart said. “My dad worked the coal mines for 50 years. My mom went to vocational school to become a nurse. My grandma Opal didn’t have clean running water because the creek near her home ran orange from acid mine drainage.
“In my family, college was an unlikely aspiration and I worked and paid my way through school. Our heritage is to Barbour County. I was raised in Morgantown. My wife is from Fairmont. I’ve spent the past 20-plus years raising my family outside Charleston in Alum Creek and now I represent Lincoln, Logan, Boone and Kanawha Counties in the state Senate.
“I will be a champion for the people of West Virginia and, regardless of political party, I’ll fight for our better future.”
Stuart and his wife Katrina have two college-age daughters.
Just before Stuart's announcement, Weld issued a statement about the 2024 AG's race.
“I welcome any candidate that joins the race and look forward to a campaign that is focused on the issues – because that’s what West Virginians deserve – an attorney general who understands their concerns about Washington D.C.’s outrageous attempts to dictate our state’s future to us," Weld said. "Over the next 12 months I plan on making it clear that I am the candidate most qualified to lead the fight against D.C and protect West Virginians’ interests here at home.”