West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice won re-election, this time as a Republican.
The Associated Press and other media organizations such as Fox News made the call right as West Virginia polls closed at 7:30 p.m. As the returns bore that out, MetroNews also declared Justice the victor.
Speaking on MetroNews’ Election Night coverage, Justice said he was honored to continue to serve as governor.
Justice acknowledged that the work the state has put into trying to control the spread of coronavirus will still go on. That has been the focus of his administration for the past six months.
“I’m going to continue to listen to all the experts and stay right on top of it,” Justice said.
Justice, a Republican who was first elected as a Democrat, faced Democratic challenger Ben Salango, a Kanawha County commissioner.
“I want to congratulate Ben Salango. He’s a good guy,” Justice said. “A class guy. He called me and everything.”
Just before 10 p.m., with 67% of West Virginia votes counted, Justice had 359,996 (64%) and Salango, 178,868 (32%). All numbers are unofficial.
Salango gave a concession speech from his Charleston home, saying he hopes Justice serves West Virginia well as governor.
“This election was never about me. It was always about the people of West Virginia,” Salango said in his concession speech.
Other candidates for governor included Libertarian Erika Kolenich, Daniel Lutz of the Mountain Party and independent S. Marshall Wilson, who ran a write-in campaign.
The Republican Governors Association quickly offered congratulations to Justice.
“Gov. Justice is a straight shooter who tells it like it is and gets real results while caring deeply for the people of West Virginia. With his focus on growing jobs, expanding opportunity, and providing hope for all West Virginians, Jim has delivered for the citizens of his state,” stated RGA Chairman Governor Greg Abbott.
Justice spent much of the campaign period conducting daily briefings about West Virginia’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He regularly said he hadn’t even visited his own campaign headquarters.
Salango’s campaign emphasized the need for change, focusing on the financial troubles of Justice’s companies and criticism over the governor’s attentiveness to his duties.
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