Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) won the West Virginia Senate race Tuesday to succeed outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), handing Republicans a major victory in their quest for control of the upper chamber.
The Associated Press called the race for Justice at 7:30 p.m. EST, shortly after the polls closed in West Virginia. Justice defeated Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, a Democrat.
With about a quarter of the ballots counted, Justice led with 65.6% of the vote. Justice defeated Elliott, who had 31% of the vote.
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Justice, 73, is finishing out his second term as governor and is term-limited. The businessman and member of a prominent coal mining family was first elected as governor in 2016 as a Democrat before becoming a Republican in August 2017.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you, West Virginia, thank you so much. It has been the honor of my life to serve as governor, and now, I will proudly represent you in the U.S. Senate,” Justice said in a statement. “As a patriot and a conservative, I firmly believe in America’s greatness and am committed to putting America and West Virginia first in the U.S. Senate.”
Justice celebrated his victory at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, alongside his soon-to-be colleague, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
“It is my absolute highest honor to now serve West Virginia as a Republican Senator in the U.S. Senate. We have flipped one seat in the U.S. Senate to the Republicans, and I pray Donald Trump is elected and we celebrate many more U.S. Senate victories across the country tonight,” Justice said.
Manchin decided not to run for reelection in November, raising speculation about a third-party presidential run. However, he ruled out a White House bid in February under No Labels, the centrist group that later abandoned moving forward with a bipartisan unity ticket for the 2024 presidential election.
Justice announced a run for Senate in April 2023, a major win for national Republicans who had been recruiting the term-limited governor for months. He framed himself as the strongest candidate to unseat Manchin before the longtime senator announced his retirement. Manchin had been considered Senate Democrats’ only chance of preventing the West Virginia seat from flipping.
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Manchin backed Elliott in the race, describing him as a man with the “determination, the vigor, and vitality” to do the work required in the Senate. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Justice, who spoke at the Republican National Convention this summer, during which his dog, Babydog, stole the show.
Manchin’s decision to step down marks the end of an era for non-Republicans in power in West Virginia, which has voted reliably red on the presidential level since 2000.
