KEARNEYSVILLE, West Virginia — The looming Senate primary battle between Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) and Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) in West Virginia will be the first real test of the GOP Senate campaign arm’s new strategy of taking sides in Republican primaries this cycle, a departure from the last election in 2022.
Nearly a year ago, the West Virginia governor announced a run for Senate, which was a major win for national Republicans who had been recruiting the term-limited governor for months. However, Mooney was already in the race and had the endorsement of the conservative Club for Growth.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Justice in the Senate race to replace outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) in October. At the time, what both sides didn’t know was that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) ultimately would decide not to run for reelection in November, raising speculation about a third-party presidential run. However, he ultimately ruled out a White House bid in February under No Labels, the centrist group that abandoned moving forward with a bipartisan unity ticket for the 2024 presidential election.
This cycle, establishment Republicans are mounting their most aggressive Senate primary intervention strategy in nearly a decade, in which they worked to box out GOP candidates they viewed as weak following a lackluster 2022 performance that ended with their minority shrinking in the upper chamber when they took a hands-off approach.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has taken different strategies over the years, from getting involved in Republican primaries to completely staying out of the primary season. In 2014, the committee took a more active role in contested primaries after being burned by intraparty warfare in the previous two election cycles. That year was a major success, with Republicans taking back control of the upper chamber.
The move has heightened tensions with the right flank of the party, who have not been shy about backing their own picks. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) have endorsed Mooney and many have campaigned with him in West Virginia.
Cruz, who appeared alongside Mooney at a rally on Thursday, said he had not received any backlash behind the scenes for endorsing the West Virginia congressman in the Senate race.
“Steve Daines is a good friend and I know my colleagues well,” Cruz said ahead of the rally. “A year ago, the main argument that was used within the Senate was that we need a candidate who can beat Manchin, and then that wasn’t a crazy argument. It’s a very different race now.”
“At this point, it is almost indisputable that the next senator from West Virginia is going to be a Republican,” he added. “The only real choice for the voters of West Virginia is this primary right now. And if you look at the records of the two candidates, there’s a dramatic difference. It’s not that close of a difference.”
Under the leadership of Daines, the NRSC has offered endorsements of Justice and many other Senate candidates including Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Kari Lake in Arizona, Sam Brown in Nevada, Tim Sheehy in Montana, Eric Hovde in Wisconsin, Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, Nella Domenici in New Mexico, and former Gov. Larry Hogan in Maryland. The committee remained neutral in the Ohio Senate race, but ultimately endorsed Bernie Moreno after he won the primary.
The NRSC is defending its strategy this cycle.
“The NRSC is proud to stand with President Trump in supporting Gov. Justice,” said Mike Berg, the committee’s communications director.
The five-term congressman is facing an uphill battle against the state’s popular two-term governor, who has been leading by double digits consistently. Mooney insists he should not be underestimated and took jabs at Justice, who ran for his first term as governor with Manchin’s support when he was a Democrat. Justice would then announce in 2017 that he was rejoining the GOP.
“The establishment has backed and recruited my opponent, and West Virginians deserve a clear choice in this election — you don’t always get that — you have a choice between two squishes, two establishments, two moderates, or one establishment person in this case,” Mooney said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “You have a clear choice, they deserve that.”
“You don’t need more liberal Republicans who vote like Democrats [in Washington],” Mooney added. “Jim Justice is just like Joe Manchin, He’s Joe Manchin 2.0, he’s Democrat light.”
Justice continues to face scrutiny over a string of legal challenges against his family’s coal empire. Voters who attended Mooney’s rally raised concerns about the governor’s connection to companies that continue to face litigation over unpaid bills and taxes.
“Jim Justice is corrupt, he owes millions of dollars of taxes and hasn’t paid them,” said Renee Jones-Wagner, a voter who lives in Hedgesville, West Virginia, and attended the rally. “He’s a Democrat that switched over to Republican, but he passes laws and things like a Democrat.”
Robert Brostrom, a voter who works in cybersecurity for a defense contractor, said he’s frustrated national Republicans decided to get involved in this primary, but said ultimately he would support the candidate who becomes the Republican nominee.
“Jim is tainted in terms of being a Democrat before and is he a true Republican? Maybe, but I think Alex really is,” Brostrom said. “I want a Republican majority. If it’s Justice, I’m OK with that. But, since we are in the primary season, I want Alex to win.”
Justice’s campaign pushed back on the critiques, saying West Virginians overwhelmingly support the governor’s bid for Senate.
“He has a strong record of conservative accomplishments from the largest tax cut in state history, economic development and creating thousands of jobs across the state, record budget surpluses, a pro-life champion, and defender of our Second Amendment,” said Roman Stauffer, Justice’s campaign manager in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “He is the Donald Trump endorsed America First candidate for U.S. Senate in this race, and he will win this race in a landslide,” Stauffer added.
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There are 34 Senate seats up for grabs in the 2024 election cycle. Of those, Democrats must defend 23, compared to just 11 for Republicans, and nearly all competitive seats are held by Democrats. After Manchin decided not to run for reelection, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report changed the rating of the contest to solid Republican. The West Virginia Senate primary will be held on Tuesday, May 14.
Justice or Mooney will go on to face the Democratic candidate who wins the primary. Manchin recently endorsed Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, who was an aide to Democratic Sen. Robert C. Byrd and is pro-union. Elliott is facing former coal company CEO Don Blankenship, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for the seat in 2018, and Marine Corps veteran Zach Shrewsbury for the Democratic nomination.
