Republican Jim Justice is flipping the US Senate seat from West Virginia after Manchin’s retirement

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Jim Justice won a U.S. Senate race from West Virginia on Tuesday, flipping a seat to the Republican Party after Joe Manchin decided not to seek re-election.

Justice, who boldly predicted victory long before the election, defeated Democrat Glenn Elliott, a lawyer and former mayor of the city of Wheeling, who was endorsed by Manchin.

The 73-year-old Justice, who is finishing his second term as governor, continued to capitalize on former President Donald Trump’s popularity in ruby-red West Virginia. Trump won the state by 42 percentage points in 2016 and 39 points in 2020. Justice was elected governor as a Democrat in 2016, then switched to the GOP seven months after taking office, took the stage at an event with Trump to come up with the announcement.

A former billionaire, Justice and his family own dozens of businesses, including the upscale Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. Justice spent considerable time as governor handling the challenges of the courts who sought late payment and penalties for his personal businesses.

This will mark the first time since 1958 that both of West Virginia’s U.S. senators are Republicans. The other is Shelley Moore Capito, who was elected to a second term in 2020.

More than a month before the election, Justice declared himself the winner, saying he saw no need to debate Elliott. Justice pointed out that he easily won his primary over U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney despite not putting up any campaign signs.

While Elliott embarked on a tour of all 55 counties this summer, Justice made few campaign stops, instead making announcements about economic development as governor, brings his English bulldogBaby dog. Justice also mixed in political talk during his weekly online media briefings, where he often criticized the policies of President Joe Biden.

Justice continually fended off questions about the handling of his businesses. A credit collection company threatened at auction The Greenbrier Resorts hotel unless payments were made on a defaulted loan. And the family owed at least $2.4 million in missed contributions to about 400 hotel employees’ health insurance.

The 710-room Greenbrier hotel has hosted US presidents, royalty and congressional retreats. It hosted a PGA Tour golf tournament from 2010 to 2019 and has welcomed NFL teams for training camps and exercises. A once-secret 112,000-square-foot (10,080-square-meter) underground bunker built for Congress at the Greenbrier in case of nuclear attack during the Cold War now hosts tours.

In addition, Justice has been accused of being late in paying in millions other business loans and court fines for unsafe working conditions at his coal mine.

Some financial issues date back to before Justice became governor. In 2016, he has owed millions in back taxes to some of Appalachia’s poorest counties, including one in Kentucky that struggled to pay off debt on a new recreation center and turned off lights in its parks and reduced hot meals for senior citizens.

In 2021, Justice ended a protracted trial of a former legislator over his stay by agreeing to live at the seat of state government in Charleston. The suit was filed after bipartisan criticism that Justice lived 100 miles (160 kilometers) away in Lewisburg, close to his resort in White Sulfur Springs.

Manchin, who has been in office since 2010, chose not to run for re-election a year ago and switched from Democrat to Independent earlier this year. Before switching parties, Manchin was the only Democrat to hold statewide office.

Elliott, 52, once served as a legislative assistant to the late US Senator Robert Byrd. Manchin praised Elliott’s record as mayor for creating jobs, lowering the crime rate and revitalizing the downtown of the city of about 26,000 residents on the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachians.