CHARLESTON W.Va. — The campaigns of state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and West Virginia Second District Congressman Alex Mooney could get a significant financial boost from a well-known political action committee in the 2024 election cycle.
Club for Growth, one of the largest independent political action committees in the country, voiced its support for Morrisey’s race for governor and Mooney’s race for U.S. Senate on Wednesday.
David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, said they’ve committed $10 million each to Morrisey’s and Mooney’s Republican primaries.
“I think we’ll easily be into those eight figures, more than $10 million there, to make sure that we can win that race and the same thing for the governor’s race,” McIntosh said on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
McIntosh’s comments come a day after Morrisey announced his intentions to join an already crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. The list includes Secretary of State Mac Warner, state Auditor J.B. McCuskey, Del. Moore Capito (R-Kanawha), the son of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Huntington auto dealer Chris Miller, the son of Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-W.Va.).
.@club4growth supports Patrick Morrisey and Alex Mooney. Why does this organization support both politicians? David McIntosh, Preisndet of the Club for Growth PAC, discusses this with @HoppyKercheval. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/sVlHr3KXSQ
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) April 5, 2023
McIntosh said they support Morrisey’s conservative record to take down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and drug distributors who contributed to the opioid epidemic.
“Fighting the opioid crisis, he did settlement with some of the distributors and marketers. Patrick is really committed to West Virginia. He’s run statewide before and was very successful,” he said.
Morrisey ran against U.S. Senator Joe Manchin in 2018 and fell three points short of an upset victory.
As for Mooney, McIntosh said they’re banking their money on him over any other candidate who possibly enters the race including Gov. Jim Justice or incumbent U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
“Honestly, I hope that Gov. Justice decides to take a pass on that. I know folks here in Washington are recruiting him heavily, but I think Alex is the strong Republican that really represents West Virginia values,” he said.
McIntosh said Justice is a well-known across the state while Mooney is recognized more in the Eastern Panhandle.
“Part of it is that Alex only represents part of the state and the governor has been elected statewide. He (Justice) is very popular, but I also think a lot depends what Senator Manchin decides to do,” he said.
Mooney has their full support because of his loyalty to defend issues that matter to West Virginia, McIntosh said.
“He’s only of the most loyal conservative voters on lower taxes, safer streets, school freedom where people can choose what school their kids go to, and he will fight for those in the Senate,” he said.
Justice has not announced his campaign yet, but hinted to MetroNews this week he’s eying Manchin’s seat and will unveil those plans soon.
Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango knows what it’s like to run against Justice because he did so in 2020. Salango, a Democrat, lost to Justice in the November General Election that year.
“He was a tough competitor,” Salango said on Wednesday’s “580 Live” heard on MetroNews flagship station 580-WCHS in Charleston.
Over the years, Justice has gained even more popularity, Salango said.
“With COVID, the governor did a great job and people recognize it. His popularity is through the roof. His name recognition is at almost 100 percent,” he said.
A recent poll conducted by National Public Affairs found Justice with a sizable advantage over Mooney. The poll of 360 likely voters found Justice would receive 55 percent of the vote and Mooney 21 percent of the vote in a potential head-to-head match-up.
As for the governor’s race, Salango said the current field of Republican candidates should dwindle down as election season nears. He said that’s because money for those campaigns could begin to run out.
“I think in a couple months, they’ll probably do their polls and look at how much cash they have on hand, what their name recognition is and I suspect that field’s going to thin out a little bit,” he said.
Salango said he believes some candidates are going to realize down the line that they’re “giving up a lot to gain essentially nothing.”
“If you’re already an officer holder and you have to give up that office in 2024 to run for something where you’ve got a 6 percent chance at winning, it’s probably not the smartest decision.”