Kessler, Goodwin say they’ll debate more if Justice agrees to it

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As of now, the three Democratic gubernatorial candidates in West Virginia will still share the same stage at the same time only once before the primary election on Tuesday, May 10.

Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall, 02), one of those candidates, said it’s not right.

“If you want to be the leader of this state, you ought to have the guts to stand on a stage before the people of this state on a multitude of times and tell them why your ideas and visions are the best for the state of West Virginia,” Kessler said on Thursday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”

“If you’re not willing to do that, if you’re not willing to tell the people what you stand for and what your vision is to move us forward, maybe you ought not to be running for governor.”

Booth Goodwin, a former U.S. attorney who is also seeking the Democratic nomination, agreed.

“I believe we should have free and open debates with all three candidates and I’ve said repeatedly that I’m entirely in favor of that,” Goodwin said.

The frontrunner in the race for nomination is Jim Justice, businessman and owner of The Greenbrier Resort, according to February’s MetroNews West Virginia Poll.

The lone forum with Justice, Goodwin and Kessler is scheduled for Saturday, April 16 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Charleston Civic Center. Being co-sponsored by the West Virginia Democratic Party, it will be televised live on West Virginia Public Broadcasting and also rebroadcast at later dates.

Ashton Marra, assistant news director and statehouse reporter for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, will moderate the forum using questions submitted by reporters from the Clarksburg Exponent Telegram, the Huntington Herald-Dispatch and the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

During the forum, each candidate will be asked the same questions and given equal time to respond. The candidates will not be permitted to question each other directly, according to organizers with the West Virginia Democratic Party.

Two days later, on April 18, Kessler and Goodwin are scheduled to participate in a WVAH-TV debate in Charleston that will broadcast from West Virginia State University’s Davis Fine Arts Center at 6:30 p.m.

Justice declined an invitation to participate in that debate which will also stream live at wchstv.com and wvahtv.com.

“It’s obvious and clear that Jim (Justice) has no interest in participating in a series of debates,” Kessler said.

“He’s a carefully manufactured candidate that they’re going to roll out in segments and then probably bury the airwaves with him holding dogs and standing at The Greenbrier and saying how he loves jobs, yet not coming forward with any real specific plans on how he’s going to do things.”

Grant Herring, spokesperson for the Justice campaign, provided the following response in a statement:

“Bless his heart – we understand Senator Kessler is frustrated with his last place campaign; however, Jim is participating in a statewide debate and several forums across the state,” Herring said.

He continued, “Jim Justice is the only one in this race who has created jobs in West Virginia; so I’m sure we will see more negative attacks from the polticians who have failed to put people to work.”

“I frankly don’t understand why Jim Justice doesn’t want to be on the same stage with Senator Kessler and I,” Goodwin told MetroNews. “I think that that’s what West Virginians deserve. That’s what West Virginians expect.”

On Wednesday, the three Democratic gubernatorial candidates spoke separately in Fairmont during the Bridges Without Boundaries North Central West Virginia Business Summit at the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center.

A scheduling conflict kept Senate President Bill Cole (R-Mercer, 06), a Republican gubernatorial candidate, from attending.

Last week, all four candidates spoke, again separately, at the West Virginia Manufacturers Association’s meeting in Charleston.





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