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Gov. Justice Pleads For Rep. Mooney To ‘Get Involved’ In W.Va.

Governor Jim Justice says he's met with Mooney just once since he's been in office
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Updated on Friday, May 13, 2022 at 4:40 p.m.

Gov. Jim Justice is pleading with U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney to get involved in working with him and his office to help West Virginia.

The governor supported Rep. David McKinley over Mooney in this week’s 2nd Congressional District Republican primary.

Federal redistricting caused by population loss gave West Virginia two congressional districts instead of three, prompting the incumbent vs. incumbent race.

Mooney, backed by former President Donald Trump, defeated McKinley by 18 points.

Justice said while he supports Trump, he thought McKinley made a bad move by voting for a January 6 insurrection investigation – but he thought McKinley made the right vote for President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, bringing $6 Billion to West Virginia.

Mooney opposed both.

Justice said he works with McKinley on a near daily basis but has minimal, if any, contact with Mooney.

The governor is now pleading with fellow Republican and Trump ally Mooney to get involved in helping West Virginia.

“I’ve met with him one time since I’ve been in office,” Justice said. “Congressman Mooney should call me and let’s work together. I’ll try to do anything and everything I can to help him.”

In an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Mooney fired back on the governor’s comments: “Gov. Justice needs to stop spreading his disproven lies from the primary. He needs to get over the fact that his candidate got only 35 percent of the vote. I am always willing to work with anyone to stand up for West Virginia families and fight the Biden-Pelosi agenda that is fueling runaway inflation.”

Mooney said that he has met with Justice on at least four in-person occasions: Oct. 2018, Jan. 2020, Aug. 15, 2020 and Aug. 19, 2020.