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Justice files to run for governor

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — If Greenbrier Resort owner Jim Justice was named governor of West Virginia, he said he would take residents “on a jobs rocket ride like nobody would ever believe.”

“On the other hand, if you really don’t want to go on that rocket ride, really you want to have things business as usual, I’m not your guy,” Justice told reporters at the state Capitol.

Justice officially filed to run for governor at the Secretary of State’s Office Tuesday morning.

“I am, for good or for bad, one creative thinking person and one person that really believes in our state. I can do it,” he said.

Gubernatorial candidates who filed Monday were former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin, a Democrat, and state Senate President Bill Cole (R-Mercer, 06).

Justice said Goodwin’s decision last week to enter the race would not change any strategies he has to win the Democratic nomination.

“I don’t really think it makes any changes whatsoever,” he said. “I’m sure Booth is a good person. (State Senate Minority Leader) Jeff Kessler is a good person. Bill Cole is a good person, but I’m going to bring something to the table that non of them can bring to the table.”

Citing his success with picking the Greenbrier up and turning it around during hard economic times is something Justice said he would bring to the Mountain State.

“The people were devastated. I believe the average, everyday guy deserves the right to have a good wage and deserves the right to have respect and opportunity,” he said.

In order to fix issues like the state’s current $353 million budget deficit Justice said, again, it all begins with job creation.

“We’ve got education. We’ve got agriculture, coal, so many different opportunities that are strengths, but really and truly today we don’t have any jobs,” he said. “No wonder we’ve got a horrendous deficit.”

A much-talked-about controversy between state lawmakers about whether Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin should appoint a Democrat or Republican to state Senator Daniel Hall’s seat left Justice saying he’s not one “to give political answers” on the issue, but he did say naming a Democrat might help.

“It would in some ways,” he said of what he would do if he was in the governor’s position. “If you’re a Democrat or Republican, you know, all I want is good thinking progressive people that are thinking good for West Virginia.”

Many other candidates also filed to run during the first two days of the filing period. The last day to file with the Secretary of State’s Office is January 30th.

The Primary Election in West Virginia will be May 10.





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