The clouded picture of the Republican field in the 2016 West Virginia governor’s race is now coming more into focus.
A significant development occurred over the weekend when state Senate President Bill Cole spoke separately by phone with 1st District Congressman David McKinley and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, telling them he plans to announce today he’s entering the race.
Cole will make his announcements this morning during an appearance on Metronews “Talkline,” at his car dealership in Bluefield, and later in the day at the State Capitol.
McKinley wanted badly to run for governor, but he received heavy pressure from a number of fellow Republicans to remain in Congress. Also, McKinley is neck-deep in the fight against the Obama administration and the EPA over the loss of coal jobs and he believes he can be more effective in Washington than Charleston.
The three-term Representative is a heavy favorite to win re-election next year.
Morrisey, however, is not yet willing to concede to Cole, telling me yesterday that he’s still “seriously considering” running for governor. Morrisey points out that he’s the most conservative of the three, which provides him with what he believes is a pathway to victory in a conservative state.
Morrisey says Cole’s announcement today will not prompt him to rush his own decision about 2016.
Meanwhile, Cole’s plan to run for governor creates a secondary problem for the GOP: who will run for the seat now held by the Senate President? Cole would have been a heavy favorite to win a second four-year term in 2016, but now that seat in the 6th District (all of Mercer and portions of McDowell, Mingo and Wayne counties) will be open.
Republican leaders, aware that Cole was likely going to enter the governor’s race, have started their recruiting efforts. All three Mercer County Delegates (John Shott, Marty Gearheart and Joe Ellington) are Republican, so one of them may try for the upper chamber.
One Republican leader told me that Shott “would be in the driver’s seat” if he wanted to run, but Shott currently holds a powerful position in the House as Judiciary Committee Chairman.
Democrats may see Cole’s departure as a chance to regain a seat in the 6th they lost in 2014 when Wayne County Republican Mark Maynard upset long-time Mingo County Democrat Truman Chafin. Princeton attorney Rocky Seay has filed to run and Chafin says he’s considering running again. Also, Delegate Justin Marcum (D-Mingo) is considering running.
Currently, Republicans hold a narrow 18-16 advantage in the Senate, with 17 seats up for election in 2016.
In the governor’s race on the Democratic side, the two candidates so far are Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall) and Greenbrier owner Jim Justice.