GOP Gov. Jim Justice battles Democrat Glenn Elliott for US Senate seat from West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Voters in ruby-red West Virginia will decide Tuesday whether a U.S. Senate seat will flip to Republican.

Two-term GOP Gov. Jim Justice faced Glenn Elliott, a Democrat and former mayor of Wheeling, for the right to succeed Sen. Joe Manchin. Manchin decided not to seek reelection and switched from Democrat to independent earlier this year.

Before he changed parties, Manchin was the only Democrat holding statewide office in West Virginia. Republicans have not held both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats since 1958.

Justice boldly declared himself the winner more than a month before the election.

The 73-year-old governor hoped to keep taking advantage of former President Donald Trump’s popularity in the state. Trump won West Virginia by 42 percentage points in 2016 and 39 points in 2020. Justice was elected governor as a Democrat in 2016, then switched to the GOP seven months after entering office, taking the stage at an event with Trump to make the announcement.

Justice has said he saw no need to debate Elliott, pointing out that he easily won his primary over U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney despite not putting up any election signs.

Name recognition was key for one voter, Vickie Lanham. When asked why she picked Justice for Senate, the resident of the Charleston suburb of Cross Lanes replied: “Honestly the name, because it was familiar,” and said Justice had done a good job as governor.

While Elliott embarked on a tour of all 55 counties this summer, Justice conducted few campaign stops, instead making economic development announcements in his capacity as governor, bringing along his pet English bulldog, Babydog. Justice also mixed in political talk during his weekly online media briefings, often criticizing President Joe Biden's policies.

A former billionaire, Justice and his family own dozens of businesses, including the posh Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. Justice spent considerable time as governor addressing court challenges that sought late business payments and fines.

Williams Harmon, a retiree from Hurricane, voted for Justice while wearing a golf shirt with the logo from the governor’s resort. But Harmon wasn't sold on his job performance, saying Justice would need to be more focused if he gets to the Senate.

“I’m not a big Justice fan, frankly,” Harmon said. “He carries that dog around with him everywhere."

Elliott, a 52-year-old lawyer who once served as a legislative assistant to the late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, said he’s a Democrat because of an intrinsic identification with “the underdog,” and a belief that unions built the American middle class and separated the U.S. economy from other nations in the mid-20th century.

Courtney Ruppert, a teacher from Cross Lanes, voted for Elliott and said she didn’t like most of Justice’s policies as governor — especially in education.

“He did not do a whole lot for us, although he said he was going to,” she said. “I feel like he doesn’t have much of a backbone, unfortunately."

Public school teacher salaries in West Virginia are among the lowest in the nation despite receiving a 5% pay raise earlier this year.

Chassidy Bays, a 26-year-old court reporter from Charleston, said she didn’t want to see Justice become the state’s next senator because she doesn’t think he represents the state well.

One important issue to her was reproductive rights. She said she couldn’t vote for someone who supported the near-total abortion ban Justice signed into law in September 2022.

“Historically, we (women) have been treated like property and garbage and that needs to stop,” Bays said.

Polls statewide opened at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.