Morrisey’s Endorsements Win On Election Night, But With Mixed Political Results 

Gov. Patrick Morrisey endorsed more than 40 legislative candidates in Tuesday’s Primary Election to mixed results. In April he wrote a post saying that the right team of lawmakers could “help WV reach her potential, address the affordability challenges facing our citizens, advance educational attainment, improve health care outcomes, fix our infrastructure, and retain our values.“ 

“I’m not going to support candidates who are too afraid to take the bold actions required to move WV up in the economic rankings,” he said. “I’m not satisfied with mediocrity and don’t want to keep doing things the way they’ve always been done — I want to work with legislators who want to build upon our record setting $12.8 billion in private sector investment announcements (and over 12,000 projected jobs) in six months. We need candidates who will help us advance a policy agenda that puts West Virginia first.” 

The results from Tuesday’s primary are preliminary and won’t be certified until canvassing next week. But early polling shows that candidates endorsed by the governor won 30 of 43 Republican primary races.  

However more than a dozen of those races were unopposed, and a majority of Morrisey’s endorsements were of incumbents, who are usually considered heavy favorites in elections.  

Sens. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, and Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, both withstood Morrisey-backed opponents in races that devolved into personal attacks funded by out-of-state political action committees.   

The governor’s candidates found more success in the House of Delegates, where five incumbents were unseated. Two of the races remain too close to call. Just two votes separate Morrisey’s choice of Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, from opponent Aaron Holley and similarly governor-backed Del. Laura Kimble, R-Harrison, is four votes behind Tim McNeely at this time. 

Most notably Del. Vernon Criss, R-Wood, the sitting Finance Chair who opposed Morrisey’s proposed tax cuts this year, lost his primary to governor-backed Charles Hartzog. 

The 23-year-old has expressed his commitment to “speed up the 2023 income tax reduction plan,” as well as to “support and defend the Hope scholarship against all attacks.”  During the 2026 regular session, Criss proposed legislation that ultimately did not pass that would have imposed some restrictions on the Hope Scholarship voucher program. 

Justices Tom Ewing and Gerald Titus, both appointed to the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals by Morrisey last year to replace Justice Beth Walker and Justice Tim Armstead, lost their elections Tuesday. Del. Bill Flanigan, R-Ohio will take over Ewing’s term through 2028, and Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick will take over Titus’ term through 2032. 

In a statement published Wednesday morning, Morrisey said the state benefits from robust and lively elections. 

“The one thing West Virginians always do after an election is come together. I look forward to working with all West Virginians, regardless of party, political persuasion, or background, to help our state flourish,” he said. “If you have our state’s best interest at heart, I will fight alongside you to make West Virginia that shining state in the mountains.”