BECKLEY, W.Va. — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice turned 65 this week but had no real plans to celebrate. The billionaire owner of The Greenbrier found himself on the campaign trail, which he sees as sort of a calling for this time in his life.
“I have a vision and an ability—an ability to create jobs, an ability to see things that others may not ever have seen and when you feel that in your heart you want to do something to help,” Justice said.
Those who know Justice say that’s not bragging but a unique genuineness the southern West Virginia native who hopes to be the state’s next governor possesses.
“None of us are going to live forever,” Justice told MetroNews thinking about his birthday. “What we all should try to do is pass stuff on that we have. I can do this and I can bring a lot of stuff to the table that no one has thought of before.”
Justice’s first foray into big-time politics is based on trust. He wants West Virginia voters to trust him because of what he’s done at The Greenbrier, the famed resort which was on the brink of shutting down when he purchased it in 2009.
The Greenbrier turnaround and other business successes (Justice owns more than 100 businesses) is enough for many including Oak Hill High School teacher Tega McGuffin who heard Justice speak for the first time recently at a meeting in Beckley.
“Um, look, Jim Justice has saved The Greenbrier. He’s done enormous amounts of business and he’s provided lots of jobs in this state,” McGuffin told MetroNews following that roundtable discussion. “It can translate over into the government sector there’s no reason it couldn’t.”
Ditto West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee who admitted he had more than one questionable look from fellow educators when the teachers union’s political action committee decided to endorse Justice.
“We’ve actually had some converts,” Lee said. “When Jim spoke to our delegates assembly, people who weren’t real happy with the endorsement after they listened to Jim speak turned around and said, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve made the right choice, let’s go!'”
According to Lee, that support comes from a combination of Justice’s vision and thinking outside the box.
“Every politician will say, ‘we need jobs,’ but Jim actually lays out a plan on how to get some jobs back to West Virginia. Throughout it all his corner piece is education,” Lee said.
Justice, who has an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion, likes to say he’s already done in the private sector what it will take to create jobs in the public sector. Some have said he won’t be able to operate under the constraints of government. He calls that “hogwash.”
“Everything has systems. They don’t know how private sector works,” Justice said of his critics. “We get through all the wickets. Everything has regulations. Everything has rules. You just work through the confines of the rules and get there.”
Some of those critics say there’s plenty of proof Justice’s companies haven’t always abided by those rules he speaks of.
In 2014, he agreed to a $1.5 million settlement with Kentucky regulators in connection with dozens of violations at coal mines in eastern Kentucky. Reports said Justice originally owed about $4.5 million. Back in March, some mining equipment was seized in Tazwell, Va., because property taxes hadn’t been paid on time. Another recent report said Justice’s West Virginia companies owe nearly $4 million in property taxes that were delinquent as of April 1.
Justice hasn’t denied being “a little late” with some of his payments but has pointed out, despite a rough economy, none of his companies have gone bankrupted and all of his bills are eventually paid.
Dale Lee, as experienced as anyone when it comes to how the legislative process works, doesn’t believe Justice will have a problem in the halls of the state capitol.
“If you think back to 1988, when the state was in probably in the worst financial shape it’s been in years, maybe in history, a businessman named Caperton (former Gov. Gaston Caperton) came in with the same type of thinking outside the box. His was raising revenue and he had to do taxes to do that, but Jim’s is a little different,” Lee said. “His is to improve education and think outside the box to bring jobs and that will increase revenue.”
With the May 10 Primary Election just a little more than a week away Justice said his calling is just a few steps from reality—something he said he’s been preparing for during the last 25 years. If it doesn’t go the way he planned he said he’ll have a sense of being unfulfilled.
“I think if it doesn’t turn out my way I’ll be sad because I know I could really, really help,” Justice said. “I know I’ll be an extra level of sad because I’m the only Democrat that has a prayer of winning in the general election. Every poll says that.”