AP Decision Notes: What to expect in West Virginia’s primaries

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who’s running for Senate, is just one of a handful of high flyers in West Virginia who decided it was time for a change of pace.

A former billionaire who owns the Greenbrier Resort, Justice is ineligible to run for reelection in West Virginia due to term limits. So, Justice set his sights on Washington, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin was facing his toughest race yet in a state that former President Donald Trump last won by about 40 points.

Justice, a former Democrat, switched to the Republican Party in 2017, making the announcement at a Trump rally in Huntington, West Virginia.

Instead of attempting to run for another term in Trump country, Manchin decided to pass, adding another open seat to the map in which the Republican nominee will be the heavy favorite in the fall.

In the race for the GOP nomination for Senate, Justice is the front-runner. His top competitor is Rep. Alex Mooney, though five other Republicans are running as well.

Don Blankenship, who was convicted of violating safety standards after 29 people died in a 2010 coal mine explosion, is running for the Senate as a Democrat, even though he ran as a Republican in the 2018 Senate race. Blankenship faces Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, who has Manchin’s endorsement, and Marine Corps veteran Zach Shrewsbury, who has support from the Progressive Democrats of America.

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