About a third of West Virginians say Jim Justice is the best governor of their lifetime, and Justice also receives the most favorable approval ratings among the state’s current lineup of top political figures.
That’s according to the most recent results of the MetroNews West Virginia Poll, sponsored by the High Technology Foundation.
“Looking at the data, it’s very favorable for Senator Justice in that he is perceived as not only the best governor in the voters’ lifetime but also he’s viewed very favorably in his job performance, nearly as high as when he was the governor,” said pollster Rex Repass.
The first round of this edition of the West Virginia Poll asked two questions where Justice, a first-term Republican senator who served two terms as governor, demonstrated significant popularity among participants.
The first asked poll participants for their opinion of the best governor of their lifetime. Justice was at the top with 32% citing his time as chief executive from 2017 to 2025.
Another question asked participants for their opinion of current West Virginia political figures.
Sixty one percent of participants view Justice favorably, according to the results of that question, giving the senator the highest level of approval.
Sixteen percent said they are not sure about their view of Justice.
Twenty three percent regard Justice unfavorably.
“Over the years when we tracked Jim Justice’s performance in terms of his office that he’s holding at the time, it’s always been in the high 50s and low 60s,” said Repass, chief consultant for Research America, which conducts the West Virginia Poll.
“As he moves into the U.S. Senate, he has retained that level of popularity. That’s because he relates well to voters throughout the state in how he presents himself, how he talks about issues, and West Virginians see him as one of their own.
Justice was a speaker on Thursday at the annual Business Summit sponsored by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce at The Greenbrier Resort, which is owned by Justice and his family.
His comments focused on the current conditions of the state, the accomplishments of his time as governor and his early impressions of federal politics as a rookie U.S. Senator. He described himself as an optimist and aimed comments at “Toby and Edith,” his names for average citizens.
“The biggest honor to me was just watching and seeing Toby and Edith out there,” Justice said.
The MetroNews poll about favorability showed additional political figures with middling results.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Justice’s counterpart, received a favorable view by 46% of participants.
Capito, a Republican whose seat is up next year, was viewed unfavorably by 29% of respondents. Twenty five percent said they are not sure.
“Senator Capito doesn’t change much,” Repass said of longstanding polling results. “She has very strong performance with Republicans and conservatives.”
The current governor, Patrick Morrisey, received a 44% favorability rating. Thirty one percent view Morrisey unfavorably. Twenty five percent are not sure about Morrisey.
The poll asked respondents about West Virginia’s congressional delegation. Only people in each district were able to respond about the representatives of those districts.
Congresswoman Carol Miller, a Republican who represents southern counties, got 39% approval. Twenty seven percent view her unfavorably and 34% are not sure.
Riley Moore, a Republican who is in his first year representing northern counties in Congress, was viewed favorably by 27% and unfavorably by 21 percent. But 52% said they are not sure yet about Moore.
Both Miller and Moore had high approval ratings among the Republican base, Repass said.
On the question about favorite governor of your lifetime, Justice got the top mention by a wide margin.
Following him were:
- Former Gov. and Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, with 23 percent
- Former Gov. and Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat, with 15 percent
- The current Republican governor, Patrick Morrisey, at 9 percent
- Three-term Gov. Arch Moore, a Republican, at 5 percent
- Gaston Caperton, a Democrat, at 4 percent
- Cecil Underwood, a Republican who was the state’s youngest governor and then its oldest, at 4 percent
- Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat and Justice’s predecessor, at 3 percent
- Bob Wise, a Democrat, at 3 percent
- 1 percent each for Wally Barron, Clarence Meadows, Hulett Smith and William Marland
- 0 percent for Okey Patteson, a Democrat known for the initial construction of the West Virginia Turnpike.
“There’s definitely familiarity with people who have been in office now or have been the last eight to 12 years,” Repass said.
“There’s also some nostalgia about where we are today and where we were 20, 30, 40 years ago.”
This round of the West Virginia Poll showed 53% of respondents viewing the Republican Party favorably, 39% unfavorably and 9% uncertain.
Thirty nine percent of respondents viewed the Democratic Party favorably, 49% unfavorably and 13% uncertain.
The MetroNews West Virginia Poll, sponsored by High Technology Foundation, is based on a sample of 400 participants across 55 counties from August 8 to 21. The overall confidence interval is +/- 4.85 percentage points.