West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced Thursday that he is running for Democrat Joe Manchin’s US Senate seat in 2024, setting up what could be a hard-fought campaign between two of the state’s most prominent politicians, the AP reports. Justice, an ultrawealthy businessman who is barred from running for a third consecutive term as governor, ended months of speculation with the announcement at a posh resort he owns in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It came on Justice’s 72nd birthday. “I absolutely will promise you to God above that I will do the job, and I will do the job that will make you proud," Justice told a crowd to a standing ovation.
Justice's entry increases the spotlight on what will be one of the most watched 2024 races in the closely divided US Senate, with the GOP hoping to flip the seat in the overwhelmingly Republican state. Manchin is one of three Democratic senators up for reelection in 2024 who represent a state won by former President Trump in the 2020 election. He has been the only Democrat elected to statewide office in West Virginia since Justice switched his party affiliation in 2017.
Manchin, who endorsed Justice in his first gubernatorial bid before Justice switched parties six years ago and their relationship deteriorated, has said he’ll decide his future political plans in December. Manchin didn't wait for Justice to make his announcement to throw out a warning Thursday morning. “I am laser focused on doing the job West Virginians elected me to do—lowering healthcare costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, shoring up American energy security and getting our fiscal house in order," Manchin said in a statement. "But make no mistake, I will win any race I enter.”
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