Poll Shows Patrick Morrisey Ahead of the GOP Pack in Governor’s Race

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has not yet said what his political intentions are for 2024, but a new poll shows that if he decides to run for Governor, he has the early lead among the announced Republican candidates.

The poll of 600 likely Republican primary voters conducted by National Research Inc. conducted last month has Morrisey at 28 percent, Delegate Moore Capito at 15 percent, Secretary of State Mac Warner at 11 percent, car dealer Chris Miller at 6 percent, Auditor J.B. McCuskey and Jeff Mullins at three percent each, with 29 percent undecided.

The poll was paid for by the Black Bear PAC, which supports Morrisey. Scott Will, who runs the PAC, said it has two-million dollars on hand and expects to reach four to five-million by the end of the year. “We are well funded and plan to back Morrisey if he decides to run for Governor in 2024,” Will said.

Half of the money raised by the PAC so far has come from one individual—Richard Uihlein.  Forbes reports the billionaire businessman from Chicago is the 4th largest individual donor to political campaigns. He gave $22 million to conservative Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm election.

The poll shows Morrisey benefits from higher name recognition than any of the other candidates. Ninety-three percent of those questioned said they have heard of Morrisey, while 76 percent have heard of Moore Capito and 69 percent know of Mac Warner.

Of those who have heard of Morrisey, 58 percent have a favorable opinion of him, while 25 percent view him unfavorably. Moore Capito’s favorables are at 43 percent, with a 22 percent unfavorable view. Warner is at 35 percent favorable and 12 percent unfavorable.

“If Attorney General Patrick Morrisey were to announce his candidacy for Governor of West Virginia, he would become the instant frontrunner in the Republican Primary,” read a statement from the National Research Inc. pollsters.

Morrisey also has his eye on the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by Joe Manchin. However, Republican Governor Jim Justice has said he will probably run and that has given Morrisey second thoughts about the race. West Virginia 2nd District Republican Congressman Alex Mooney has already announced he is running for that Senate seat.

Morrisey can raise money—the flush PAC is evidence of that—and he has been successful at generating earned media through his office by entering the state in myriad legal battles. He came tantalizingly close to a higher office in 2018 when he lost a U.S. Senate race to Joe Manchin by three points.

So, what is Morrisey going to do?

Morrisey’s PAC would not have released the poll showing his positive numbers were he not leaning toward running for Governor. In fact, the poll is likely one of several attention-getting steps leading to a much bigger announcement in a few weeks.





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