Listen to “West Virginia’s Future is on the Ballot… On That We Agree” on Spreaker.
Elections have always been ugly; this pen has said as much before. But comparatively, this primary — long in the making, built on manipulation and distortion — may be the nastiest West Virginia has seen this century.
Ads spun from the artificial intelligence ether, stripped of context and unconcerned with presenting the full truth, are now cheap and easy to create. They’re even easier to distribute. They are everywhere. And all the while, substantive policy discussions are nowhere to be found.
This election is about power — not how to use it to improve West Virginia, but who gets to wield it.
This primary is, in many ways, a referendum on Governor Patrick Morrisey. He made it that way when, unlike any governor in recent memory, he chose to target conservatives who are not aligned with him politically — branding them RINOs or whatever the pejorative phrase du jour happens to be. The implication is clear: disagreement is disloyalty, and retribution will follow.
Morrisey has failed to create a working relationship with the majority of legislators. It often seems he doesn’t want one?
But governors are not meant to be both executive and legislature wrapped into one. Our system was never designed that way.
This race is also about out of state money trying to buy the election — monies spearheaded chiefly by Governor Morrisey from big-money donors in Utah, and Pennsylvania, and Florida, and Wall Street among many other places. When you hear Sugar Maple PAC, you should think Governor Morrisey.
Combine all that with locking out conservative independents from the primary election — something the Morrisey camp heavily lobbied for — and you have a recipe to limit voter turnout… a means to win by attrition.
Running on Rhetoric vs Substance
The social issue messaging has become repetitive and detached from reality. Claims about candidates who will allow boys in girls’ locker rooms? That is not happening in West Virginia, nor is it likely to. Boys competing in girls’ sports? Addressed already and awaiting a Supreme Court ruling. Placing the word “Tranny” on an ad to disparage a candidate doesn’t change reality.
The suggestion that conservatives who challenge Morrisey are somehow advocates for abortion? Abortion is already largely illegal in West Virginia and nobody on the ballot wants to change that.
School choice under attack? Why, because lawmakers ask tough questions to balance our budget and live within our means? No. Hope is here to stay – rightly so – and we’ll review it year after year accordingly, just as we do all state programs.
When one side has little left to campaign on beyond social grievances, the strategy becomes obvious: flood mailboxes with out-of-state PAC money mailers — much of it dark money — and blanket the state with context-free attack ads designed to paint political opponents as villains with opinions they don’t have over issues already decided. A strategy to persuade people to stay home.
But social issues are not West Virginia’s greatest challenge. The economy is. Population loss is. The lowest workforce participation rate in America is. Long-term opportunity is. Child welfare is. These are the substantive policy issues missing from the discussion – they can’t get air to breathe in this election for all the hogwash being spewed.
Where is Team Morrisey’s plan for that? Where are the mailers from his side on how to fix those problems? Where are the new policy ideas to bring the state forward?
The governor frequently touts more than $12 billion in recent investment announcements across the state – a way to say we’re on the right track. But much of that investment was already in motion before he took office. Think of it this way: if the governor were a salesman, he would not receive the commission on these deals because he didn’t originate them. A salesman is paid for what he sells, not what comes in from the work of others.
FirstEnergy’s proposed $2.5 billion gas-fired power plant was already under consideration through the company’s integrated resource planning process before Morrisey became governor.
The governor also points to roughly $1.44 billion in planned coal plant upgrades. Those projects are supported largely through federal Department of Energy loan programs. Important investments? Certainly. But one-time federal dollars are not the same as landing sustained private-sector investment that generates long-term wages and recurring tax revenue. Conservatives once argued government dependency was a problem. When did federal grant reliance become an economic development model?
The $1.2 billion natural gas project involving Kindle Energy and Blackstone was also moving forward before Morrisey took office.
The Fidelis project in Mason County predates this administration as well.
The Penzance data center project in Berkeley County? Give the governor some credit there, alongside significant contributions from local officials.
And Google’s Putnam County investment officially became public during Morrisey’s term, but much of the groundwork and negotiation began well before he entered office – nearly a year before. Those Google leaned on most are legislators, not the governor.
Sewer investments are government responsibilities – why should spending citizens’ tax dollars on infrastructure citizens routinely expect from government be a win? That’s a duty met, not a growth plan.
You get the drift.
The Decision Belongs to Voters
So, if the social issues are largely settled – and they are – West Virginians are left with a more consequential question: do they support a political operation built around ideological warfare that is a farce, out-of-state money and mudslinging, or do they support lawmakers focused primarily on economic growth and long-term prosperity?
My take?
Preferable are people who have actually signed paychecks, negotiated deals, and built and managed companies before. Those with a track record of achievement beyond political nonsense. Those whose campaigns are fueled by fellow West Virginians, not out-of-state billionaires.
We’ll see what happens Tuesday. Either way, the next battle – the ’28 election – begins bright and early the next morning.
