HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) Tuesday announced that he is running for governor.
Current Gov. Jim Justice can not seek re-election due to term limits.
Justice has not announced what he intends to do next but has said that he is “seriously considering” a run for Democrat Joe Manchin’s seat in the United States Senate.
Secretary of State Mac Warner is also running for governor as a Republican, as well as Del. Moore Capito (R-Kanawha County) and State Auditor J.B. McCuskey (R).
During his announcement, Morrisey touted his work defending West Virginia’s new abortion laws against multiple lawsuits, as well as his lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s pistol brace rule, which Morrisey says negatively impacts people with disabilities.
He reiterated multiple times that he would represent “West Virginia, conservative values” and pledged to lower taxes. He said that in the next “few months” he would reveal plans to address the state’s “workforce and population problems.”
Other pledges he made include more pipelines, an end to “the brainwashing in our schools” and faster broadband internet, as well as more attention to the state’s roads.
Morrisey is from New Jersey. He said he moved to West Virginia in 2006 because of the state’s natural beauty.
Morrisey said he would follow his announcement with a statewide tour to speak to West Virginia voters, including a stop in Bridgeport at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
