CHARLESTON – Gov. Jim Justice has won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, and current state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is the GOP nominee for governor.
In early numbers, Justice had 62 percent of the GOP vote in the May 14 primary election with 50 percent of precincts reporting. His nearest competitor was current U.S. Representative Alex Mooney with 27 percent of the vote.
(Editor’s Note: Figures are current as of 11:15 p.m. EDT)
""It is a privilege to be the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in West Virginia," Justice said in a provided statement. "As a patriot and a conservative, I firmly believe in the greatness of America, and I am committed to putting America and West Virginia first."
Justice will square off against Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, who won the Democratic primary that also included coal miner Zach Shrewsbury and former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. The winner in the fall general election will replace Joe Manchin, who decided against running for another term.
In the race for governor, Morrisey defeated former legislator Moore Capito, both of whom were ahead of Huntington businessman Chris Miller and current Secretary of State Mac Warner in the GOP primary while Huntington Mayor Steve Williams was unopposed on the Democratic side.
"Congratulations to Patrick Morrisey on his victory tonight in West Virginia's Republican gubernatorial primary election, Republican Governor's Association Chairman Bill Lee of Tennessee said. "Patrick Morrisey has stood up to Democrat's bureaucratic overreach time and time again, and he'll continue to do just that as West Virginia's next governor, delivering freedom and economic opportunity to West Virginians across the state."
In the state Attorney General race, current Auditor J.B. McCuskey defeated state Senator and former U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart in the Republican primary, while Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva defeated former South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb on the Democratic side.
"Thank you, West Virginia," Toriseva said. "We made history tonight.
"As the first female nominee of any party for West Virginia Attorney General, I'm excited to continue our campaign to be an attorney general for all West Virginians. Thank you to my opponent for a clean, well run, issue-based campaign."
In one of the state’s two U.S. House races, incumbent Republican Carol Miller took an easy victory over Derrick Evans, who was indicted for his part in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. And in the race to replace Mooney, state Treasurer Riley Moore handily defeated four other GOP candidates. Democrat Chris Bob Reed defeated Jim Umberger to take on Miller in the 1st District race, while Steve Wendelin was unopposed in the 2nd District Democratic race.
Kris Warner won the battle to replace his brother Mac as Secretary of State in the GOP primary over Doug Skaff Jr. and others, while Thornton Cooper was unopposed in the Democratic race.
Charleston attorney Mark Hunt defeated Eric Householder and two others in the Republican race for Auditor, while Mary Ann Roebuck Claytor ran unopposed as a Democrat.
And incumbent Kent Leonhardt easily won the GOP race for Agriculture Commissioner over Josh Higginbotham and Roy Ramey, while Deborah Stiles was unopposed on the Democratic side.
Republican Larry Pack is the only candidate seeking the Treasurer job currently held by Riley Moore.
In the GOP primary for the 15th state Senate District, incumbent Senate President Craig Blair was trailing Tom Willis 41 percent to 34 percent with 88 percent of precincts reporting. Other Senate GOP incumbents – Mike Maroney, Chandler Swope and Robert Karnes – lost their in their re-election races. Incumbent House Republicans Diana Winzenreid, David "Flimsy" Adkins, Heather Tully and Don Forscht all lost their primary races.
And in some of the more high profile circuit court races in the state, Kanawha County incumbent Jennifer Bailey defeated challenger Ashley Deem while Putnam County incumbent Phillip Stowers easily defeated challenger Jon Hoover. In the Northern Panhandle, incumbent Ronald Wilson lost his re-election race to Joseph Barki. In the 11th Circuit that includes Mingo and Logan counties, Sabrina Leigh Deskins edged out incumbent Miki Thompson.
Also in Kanawha County, former lawmaker Richard D. Lindsay II defeated Eric Cantrell for the county's newly created eighth Circuit Judge position.
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West Virginia also has a new state Supreme Court justice.
Longtime legislator Charles Trump was unopposed in his race for the seat on the court currently occupied by John Hutchison, who decided not to run for another term.
Incumbent Justice Haley Bunn also was unopposed in her race. Because judicial races in West Virginia are non-partisan, they are decided in the primary election.
Trump has been a Republican member of the House of Delegates and state Senate, where he also served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Bunn was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2022 to fill the unexpired term of Evan Jenkins, who resigned.
In the battle for a spot on the state Intermediate Court of Appeals, Charleston attorney and lobbyist Ryan White defeated Wheeling attorney and former state GOP chairwoman Elgine McArdle and Charleston attorney Mychal Schulz. He will replace current ICA Judge Thomas Scarr, who decided not to see election after being appointed to the new court that started in 2022.