WV-SEN 2024: Manchin out, Justice for All

[Tekken_Guy]

WV Gov. Jim Justice (R) is "seriously considering" a bid against Manchin:

Justice was asked about a possible U.S. Senate run during Tuesday’s virtual briefing with reporters from the Capitol.

“From the standpoint of attention on my mind, I’m absolutely thinking really hard about it and very seriously considering running for Senate,” Justice said. “I have not made a final decision yet, but I promise you, regardless of whatever I do, I’ll be your governor for the next two years. I’m not just going to sit around and hang out. I don’t believe in that.”

Justice was asked about a possible Senate run in September by The Intelligencer when he was in Wheeling campaigning against Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would have allowed the West Virginia Legislature to eliminate six categories of tangible personal property taxes. Justice told reporter Joselyn King at the time that he was a maybe.

https://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2022/11/gov-justice-seriously-considering-u-s-senate-run-in-2024/

Jim Justice is going to be 73. Why would he be the top pick for Senate?

[Tekken_Guy]

What would it actually take for Manchin to get re-elected and actually represent WV into the 2030s lol

Don Blankenship.

[Tekken_Guy]

What would it actually take for Manchin to get re-elected and actually represent WV into the 2030s lol

Don Blankenship.

What about serial underperformer Alex Mooney? He's already thrown his hat in the ring

Blankenship would make Mooney look like Brian Fitzpatrick.

[Tekken_Guy]

@Tekken_Guy,
Popular Republican Governors in Red States have a pretty good track record getting elected to the Senate see John Hoeven in ND or Mike Rounds in SD so if Jim Justice gets in this is pretty much an Automatic Pick Up for Republicans.

To be fair Hoeven and Rounds weren’t facing incumbents. And rounds had been out of office for four years by the time he was elected Senator.

[Tekken_Guy]

Hot take: With Justice running, there’s a serious chance Manchin does worse than Blanche and he could possibly top Wesley Jones’ 1932 defeat if he stays in, and I think Manchin knows that. I expect he retires if/when Justice makes it official.

What's up with all these septuagenarians running to become freshmen senators?

In this case, I suspect it’s a consequence of the rivalry Manchin+Justice developed shortly after Justice’s party switch.

What happens to Mooney if Justice gets in?

[Tekken_Guy]

https://twitter.com/JimJusticeWV/status/1620169467543310341

He pinned this tweet. Justice is running.

When will he officially announce?

[Tekken_Guy]

It's obvious he's running and if he doesn't run that would be because his internals would show him with an abysmal approval

Manchin or Justice?

[Tekken_Guy]

No idea why Mooney is running to get clobbered by Justice. He's in a safe R seat. Well, at least Riley Moore will be an upgrade still.

To be fair I don’t think anyone, Mooney included, was expecting Justice to run until the rumors started coming out shortly after the midterms.

[Tekken_Guy]

No idea why Mooney is running to get clobbered by Justice. He's in a safe R seat. Well, at least Riley Moore will be an upgrade still.

To be fair I don’t think anyone, Mooney included, was expecting Justice to run until the rumors started coming out shortly after the midterms.

Wasn't that kind of logical to assume? Anyways, it's not unusual candidates running with literally zero chance to win.

Because of Justice’s age, the idea of him running was widely seen more as wishcasting than something that would actually happen. He wasn’t seen as particularly likely to run until last November or December.

[Tekken_Guy]

Thread title idea: And Justice For All

[Tekken_Guy]

Mooney should just run for re-election to WV-02 at this point, and run for Senate when either Capito or Justice himself retires.

[Tekken_Guy]

He’s obviously running for President.

No he is not.