With just days left in the 2016 election cycle, more than 140,000 West Virginians have already cast their ballots, but the candidates at all levels are still working to get your vote.
At the presidential level, polling not just in West Virginia, but throughout the Ohio Valley region, shows billionaire Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump enjoys strong support from the region’s white, working class — an often overlooked group of voters.
This angry election season has caused many writers to focus on the deep discontent among white workers. Ohio Valley ReSource’s Jeff Young spoke with three authors about why the white working class has such a dark outlook on the country’s future.
The same region is ground zero for the opioid epidemic, with some of the nation’s highest addiction and overdose rates. Ohio Valley ReSource’s Aaron Payne reports on how the results of two key races could shape how West Virginia addresses the crisis.
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Jim Justice, left, and Bill Cole, right, shake hands after their first gubernatorial debate.
There are five candidates in the race to be the next leader of the state of West Virginia. Charlotte Pritt of the Mountain Party, Libertarian David Moran and Constitution Party candidate Phil Hudok represent the state’s third parties. Leading the race though, are Republican Bill Cole and Democrat Jim Justice. We profile the candidates and their campaigns.
This year’s race for Agriculture Commissioner is a rematch of 2012 when Republican Kent Leonhardt took on Democrat Walt Helmick. Clark Davis reports the two major party candidates still see the Commissioner of Agriculture as someone who can diversify the state’s economy, but have differing opinions about what that diversification looks like.
Eighteen months later, after defeating a former Senate President and U.S. Attorney in the primary, there is little doubt that the Democratic front runner has the full backing of his party in the state, even though his platform parallels that of his Republican rival.
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Jim Justice announced his intention to run for governor in White Sulphur Springs in May 2015.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, West Virginia’s only Democratic member of Congress, endorsed Justice in March, but Manchin’s team of political insiders has been working with the Democratic gubernatorial candidate since long before the endorsement including Larry Puccio, Manchin’s former chief of staff, who works as a consultant on the campaign.
“He’s been able to do great things. He thinks big. He thinks on a different level,” Puccio said on MetroNews’s Talkline in October.
It’s a message that Justice himself has traveled the state touting, but the candidate has been criticized for speaking too broadly about his plans for West Virginia’s future, not giving the voters specific ideas about how he’ll create jobs, diversify the state’s economy, and deal with shrinking tax revenues—three of the biggest issues in the race.
“We’re dying on the vine. We’ve proven how to die. We’ve got to think big and we’ve got to move forward,” Justice said during a televised debate in October, a broad statement he’s made several times.
During the second of two televised debates, Justice did share some economic plans, like calling on Congress to credit the state for its large acreage of forested land or attracting the next Dollywood to West Virginia.
Professor of Political Science at West Virginia Wesleyan College Dr. Robert Rupp said those big ideas and the way Justice conveys them, that’s part of who his is as a candidate- a down-home, folksy guy.
“That ensures that he can connect with the voters, but the difficulty is can he convince the voters that he will be a good governor,” he said.
Rupp, a former Republican member of the State Election Commission, said throughout the campaign Justice has had to work harder to convey an image of leadership than his Republican opponent, Senate President Bill Cole, but all of the polls, even those paid for by the state GOP, show Justice is up in the race, by as much as double digits in some cases. That lead has left him open to attacks.
National Party Politics
The Republican Governor’s Association has spent nearly a million dollars on the race, largely on television ads that attempt to link Justice to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president who is widely unpopular in the state.
Some center on donations he and his family made in 2011 to the Democratic National Committee.
The Justice family donated more than $120,000 to the DNC during the 2012 election cycle, but Jim Justice has said those dollars were in support of Steve Beshear, Kentucky’s former Democratic governor.
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Jim Justice, left, and Bill Cole, right, shake hands after their first debate in October.
“It’s preposterous for a coal man to be a supporter of Hillary Clinton. I don’t know why we continue with those lies and they’re just absolute lies,” Justice said during a debate with Republican Cole.
But it’s Justice’s reputation of being a coal man that news outlets have scrutinized during the race.
Justice’s Business Practices
An NPR investigation in October found Justice companies owed $15 million in unpaid local, state and federal taxes as well as delinquent mine safety fines.
In West Virginia, Justice owed $3 million in unpaid severance taxes on coal, an area of decline in tax revenues that’s caused significant financial hardship for the state.
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Greenbriar Classic chairman and Greenbriar Resort owner Jim Justice speaks during a news conference, Tuesday July 2, 2013, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Justice responded to the report during an October 11 debate, saying yes, he owes the taxes and fines, but he is working through a difficult time in the coal industry and unlike many other companies, hasn’t filed for bankruptcy.
“If we would’ve given up, what would have happened? Those good people, men and women that were working, they would have gone home,” Justice said. “They wouldn’t have had their jobs and I won’t feel bad for one second for trying to keep those people in their jobs.”
So if his business record, his party’s national politics, and his broad policy ideas haven’t knocked Justice out of the front runner position, less than a week from Election Day, some say maybe nothing can.
There is one other factor in the race though— Mountain Party candidate Charlotte Pritt.
Pritt was the Democratic Party’s candidate for governor in 1996 and today, is collecting the party’s protest votes—left-leaning West Virginia Democrats who are less than satisfied with conservative Justice’s campaign.
Pritt has polled as high as 8 percent in the race, but is her Democratic support enough to sway the race away from Justice?
Long-time Democratic state auditor Glen Gainer announced in 2015 that he would not seek re-election this year and in the spring, stepped down from his post 8 months before the end of his term.
With a wide open seat, a politically connected Republican and an underdog Democrat have traveled West Virginia rounding up support for their candidacies, but the election marks the first time in 40 years someone with the last name of Gainer will not be elected to the office.
The previous auditor, Glen Gainer III, was first elected in 1992. His father, Democrat Glen Gainer Jr., was elected auditor in 1977 and held the office until his son’s election.
The Candidates
Republican John McCuskey, known as J.B. around the statehouse where he represents Charleston’s 35th House of Delegates District, was born in Clarksburg. He’s the son of a former judge and a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law.
McCuskey says as he’s campaigned across West Virginia, he’s found himself having to educate the electorate about the office itself and his race, likely because the previous auditor held the office for more than 20 years. He also focuses, though, on sharing a positive message with West Virginians.
“Every time I make a speech I like to tell people that I am just wildly optimistic about the future of West Virginia and I think that’s very motivating for people because they hear a lot of negative stuff about our state,” McCuskey said in an interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting in September.
“I encourage people to, when they tell their friends that live other places, try to be as positive as possible, try to focus on the things we have going right because if we don’t, it’s not going to get turned around.”
His Democratic opponent is Mary Ann Claytor, the daughter of a coal miner. Born near Campbell’s Creek in Kanawha County, Claytor has 20 years of experience as an employee of the auditor’s office, where she actually audited the finances of local governments.
“I think when they think of a bean counter they think of a very boring person, but I have a very energized base, both Democrats and Republican honestly because even when I meet those people that are strictly party lines on the other side they understand, yea, that needs a skill set,” she said, adding that with an accounting degree and experience working in the office, she has that skill set.
OASIS
When it comes to the policy issues in the auditor’s race, they’re pretty technical. Beginning under the Manchin administration, the state has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a new computer operating system and the Auditor is a major player in its implementation.
OASIS, as it’s known, allows a variety of systems in state government to talk to one another. It controls payroll and budgeting and tracks the timelines of state projects like new roads or bridges, among many other things.
The system that has had a number of issues and faced major delays and both candidates said had state leaders known of the budgetary issues ahead for West Virginia, they would have waited to invest in it, but McCuskey and Claytor want to make sure the state is getting what it paid for.
“Since we’ve already done it, you know, and we’ve spent that money, we need to make sure that the product that we have purchased works to our best interest and the best interests of the citizens,” Claytor said.
As auditor, Claytor would orchestrate a review of the initial contracts for the OASIS operating system and take the issues straight back to the vendor to be fixed. McCuskey said he’ll also review the system issues, but his priority is to make sure employee trainings are completed and the system is fully operational.
“Because the taxpayers of this state have spent dearly for this system and they deserve the results they were promised,” he said.
Budgetary Constraints
Over the past four years, the Auditor’s Office has had to endure budget cuts of up to 32 percent.
Both McCuskey and Claytor say they want to balance continued savings with protecting the important services the office provides.
McCuskey said from the outside looking in, it’s hard to tell exactly where those savings are, but Claytor said she’ll look to the top ranks of the office staff to find them.
If so, you can help us tell West Virginia’s election story by telling us about your voting experience on November 8 (or before, if you are voting early).
We’ve teamed up with ProPublica’s ElectionLand, a digital news project that is tracking the election process across the state and the country. We’ll be monitoring voter access in real time, confirming reports of voting irregularities and getting a better idea of what’s happening as ballots are being cast across West Virginia.
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To participate, simply text ‘WV VOTES’ to 69866.
We’ll ask you a few simple questions, like where you’re voting and how long you waited in line at the polls. If something stands out, one of our reporters may be in touch with you to find out more.
For more coverage of Election 2016, check out our podcast Viewpoint with Ashton Marra. On November 8, be sure to stay tuned to West Virginia Public Broadcasting and wvpublic.org for real time results, interactive maps and more. You can also follow @wvpublicnews on Twitter and like our Facebook Page.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting is participating in Electionland, a ProPublica project that will cover access to the ballot and problems that prevent people from exercising their right to vote during the 2016 election.
In his gubernatorial campaign, Senate President Bill Cole has emphasized shrinking the size of state government and cutting down on regulation in West Virginia. Cole has drawn support from like-minded national Republican figures, such as Wisconsin’s controversial governor, Scott Walker.
It’s that kind of support that has generated some of Cole’s strongest opposition among voters in the Mountain State.
Boos greeted Cole and Walker as they arrived for a campaign rally in Charleston last week.
“We’re here to protest the fact that Bill Cole is bringing a guy named Scott Walker to town,” said Josh Sword, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia AFL-CIO union. “And Scott Walker is the governor of Wisconsin whose claim to fame is lowering wages, taking away benefits and making work places less safe in Wisconsin. And I guess Bill Cole thinks that’s going to help his candidacy.”
Walker joined Cole on a tour of West Virginia – making stops in Bluefield, Charleston and Morgantown.
Cole voiced his admiration for what Walker has done in Wisconsin during their joint campaign stop in Morgantown. He said Walker came into office with more than 9 percent unemployment and a $3.6 billion deficit.
“And in the six years he’s been in office, unemployment is down to 4.1, I think he said, and they have a $300 million surplus — budget surplus — this year,” Cole said.
Walker ran into a lot of union opposition when he passed some of the same legislation in Wisconsin that Cole shepherded through West Virginia’s Legislature this past session.
Right to Work
One of those bills made West Virginia the 26th right-to-work state.
The law makes it illegal to fire a worker for refusing to join a union or pay union dues or fees, but it’s being challenged in a state court, with union leaders leading the charge against it.
“Right- to-work is not an anti-union vote,” Cole said. “Now the union bosses are going to say that it is because the union bosses are all of a sudden going to have to get up and deliver for their membership.”
Cole said unions will now have to prove that those dues will help workers. Opponents of the law say those fees help unions negotiate fair wages for all workers.
The backlash against right-to-work and other GOP-backed legislation Cole advanced during this past session has spurred opposition candidates to run in West Virginia, even Republicans. West Virginia’s race for governor has also attracted money from national political action committees that want to make sure those laws stay in place.
Back at the protest in Charleston, Ginny Moles with the Alliance for Retired Americans, said she doesn’t agree with Cole’s leadership during his time in the Legislature.
“You don’t cut jobs. You don’t pass right-to-work when only 8 percent of the workforce is union and tell us that’s anything but union-busting,” she said. “If you want to build the state, you don’t do those two things. You create jobs.”
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Campaign signs at Bill Cole’s stop at Jameson’s Bar & Grill in Morgantown.
Job creation is featured prominently in Cole’s campaign. He often cites wanting to change West Virginia’s low workforce participation rate as one of his primary goals. So has his Democratic gubernatorial opponent, billionaire Jim Justice.
U.S. Presidential Race
Another thing they both agree on is who they’d like to see as the next U.S. president.
“We in this room all better pray it’s a Donald Trump Whitehouse,” Cole said to a group of energy industry executives at a meeting in Wheeling last week.
He told the group Hillary Clinton is bent on regulating the coal and gas industries to death and that’s something West Virginia can’t afford. At that meeting, Cole also referenced leaked footage of Trump making vulgar remarks about sexually assaulting women, defending his party’s candidate.
“I’m sure we’ve all said and done things that we’d love to take back or take off the table or wouldn’t be so proud of in a different setting than when they were said,” he said.
Auto Dealerships
Justice campaign ads have taken shots at Cole over several lawsuits stemming from his auto dealership in Ashland, Kentucky. They include allegations of sexual harassment — not at the hands of Cole himself, but other employees.
Cole describes them as nuisance lawsuits that most businesses deal with on a regular basis.
“They’ve all been discharged. Not a one of them went anywhere,” he said.
Cole making a living as an auto dealer has generated criticism of another kind, though.
Under his watch as Senate president, West Virginia lawmakers passed S.B. 453, in 2015. The bill banned direct sales of Tesla electric vehicles, which critics say cuts competition for Cole’s dealerships.
The law also set a minimum reimbursement rate for warranty work done on cars. Democrats say this is especially hypocritical considering Cole pushed through the repeal of West Virginia’s prevailing wage this year. Prevailing wage laws set the minimum amount contractors can be paid on state construction jobs.
Cole said repealing the prevailing wage and other legislation he has championed as Senate president will move the state forward.
Back at the rally at a bar on High Street in Morgantown, Cole also referenced the fact Justice says he’ll continue to coach high school basketball if he’s governor, potentially splitting his attention during the Legislative session.
“So if we have full-time problems, they require full-time solutions and I’m going to tell you, we need a full-time governor,” he said. “That governor is Bill Cole.”
The latest MetroNews West Virginia poll shows Justice leading Cole by 11 points. That’s down slightly from the previous month’s 14 points. The margin of error still puts Justice’s lead in double digits.
In the first day of early voting, the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office says 24, 251 people have cast their ballots at polling places across the state.
Early voting began Wednesday and lasts through Saturday November 5. Polling sites will be open Saturday, October 29, as well.
During this year’s primary election, a record number of voters cast their ballots during the early voting period.
Sixty-three thousand voters turned out to vote early in the 2016 primary which was up from 36 thousand votes during the 2012 early primary voting period, the last time the country voted for a president.
Across the country, early vote totals are hitting record setting highs.
Some states, like California and Texas, saw more ballots cast in the first day of early voting than in the entire early voting periods of previous elections.
