The 2024 West Virginia gubernatorial election will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of West Virginia, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Governor Jim Justice is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term in office and is instead running for the U.S. Senate.[1] First elected in 2016 as a Democrat by 6.8 percentage points, Justice switched parties in August 2017 and won re-election in 2020 as a Republican by 33.3 percentage points. Primary elections will take place on May 14, 2024.[2]
Background
A conservative rural southern state, West Virginia is considered extremely Republican at the federal and state levels; Republicans hold all statewide executive offices and supermajorities in both state legislative houses, and since 2015, Senator Joe Manchin has been the state's only congressional Democrat. In the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump carried West Virginia by 38.93 percentage points.
With Jim Justice term-limited and unable to run for a third consecutive term as Governor, the Republican primary is expected to be competitive and crowded. Most analysts consider Republicans to be a heavy favorite, given the state's partisan lean and the margin from the previous election.[3]
Chase Linko-Looper, human rights advocate and U.S. Army veteran[21]
General election
Though major pundits consider the election to be safe for the republican nominee, there is potential that the election could be closer, as West Virginia historically elected Democrats to the Governor's office, and Steve Williams is considered to be a strong candidate for the Democrats. [22]
