CHARLESTON, W.Va. — “It’s official. I’m in,” said Jim Justice, billionaire businessman and owner of The Greenbrier Resort, as he signed his pre-candidacy papers Tuesday in the Secretary of State’s Office to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2016.
Following the filing, he traveled to planned campaign stops in Clarksburg, Wheeling and Martinsburg.
“I want to go and I want to talk to them and I want to share with them just the beginning of a vision and something we can do to really change,” Justice said of the areas in West Virginia where he may not be as well known as he is in the Greenbrier Valley.
Justice announced his campaign Monday in White Sulphur Springs.
As of earlier this month, Forbes estimated Justice’s net worth was $1.69 billion. He made his fortune in coal, timber and farming and he confirmed Tuesday he would be putting some of his personal money into his gubernatorial campaign, though he did not disclose a specific number.
“I want to contribute because I think it would be selfish and inconsistent to say, ‘Jim Justice is going to ask everybody in the world to bring him all the money to take care of his campaign,'” Justice said in Charleston.
“I want to contribute, but I only want to contribute and I don’t want to even do it on an unbelievable scale and the reason I don’t is because I want everybody to feel (in)vested,” he said. “I want everybody in and, as far as what it takes to run this campaign, I can’t answer that. I don’t know.”
Up to now, Justice has never run for a statewide political office. His campaign, he said, will focus on job creation. Justice’s companies currently employ thousands of people.
He purchased The Greenbrier in 2009, saving the historic site from bankruptcy.
“I stared real hopelessness right in the face. I saw it. I saw it at The Greenbrier. I walked in and I’ll never forget until I die seeing those people and seeing the looks on their faces,” Justice said Tuesday.
Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall, 02) previously filed pre-candidacy papers to run for governor next year.
As of Tuesday morning, no Republicans had yet announced gubernatorial campaign plans, though 1st District Congressman David McKinley (R-W.Va.), state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Senate President Bill Cole (R-Mercer, 06) had all previously expressed interest in running.
West Virginia’s primary election is May 10, 2016.