2024 West Virginia gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2024 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2024 West Virginia gubernatorial election was 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. Republican state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey was elected to his first term in office after defeating Democratic Huntington mayor Steve Williams in the general election.^[1] Incumbent Republican Jim Justice was term-limited and was unable to seek re-election to a third consecutive term in office; he instead ran for the U.S. Senate.^[2]

2024 West Virginia gubernatorial election

← 2020 November 5, 2024 2028 →

Nominee Patrick Morrisey Steve Williams Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 459,300 233,976 Percentage 62.0% 31.6%

County results Congressional district results Morrisey:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Governor before election Jim Justice Republican Elected Governor Patrick Morrisey Republican

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 took place on May 14, 2024.^[3] This is the first time since 1972 that Republicans won consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state. However, Morrisey performed worse than Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who outperformed Morrisey by 7.98 percentage points. Additionally, Williams outperformed Kamala Harris by 3.48 percentage points.

Background

A conservative rural southeastern 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 from 2015 until he became an Independent in 2024, Senator Joe Manchin had 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 was expected to be competitive and crowded. Most analysts considered Republicans to be a heavy favorite, given the state's partisan lean and the margin from the previous election.^[4]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia Attorney General (2013–2025) and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018^[5]

Eliminated in primary

• Moore Capito, former state delegate (2016–2023), grandson of former governor Arch Moore, and son of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito^[6]
• Kevin Christian, electrical engineer^[7]
• Chris Miller, automobile dealer and son of U.S. Representative Carol Miller^[8]
• Mitch Roberts, store manager and write-in candidate for governor in 2020^[7]
• Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary of State (2017–2025)^[9]

Withdrew

• J.B. McCuskey, West Virginia State Auditor (2017–2025) (ran for attorney general)^[10]

Declined

• Kent Leonhardt, West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture (2017–present) (ran for re-election)^[11]
• Riley Moore, West Virginia State Treasurer (2021–2025) and grandson of former governor Arch Moore (ran for U.S. House)^[12]

Endorsements

Moore Capito

Federal politicians

• Shelley Moore Capito, U.S. Senator from West Virginia (2015–present) (candidate's mother)^[13]

Statewide politicians

• Jim Justice, Governor of West Virginia (2017–2025)^[14]

Newspapers

• The Exponent Telegram^[15]

Chris Miller

Individuals

• Bob Huggins, former basketball coach^[16]

Patrick Morrisey

Individuals

• David Bossie, president of Citizens United^[17]
• Vivek Ramaswamy, entrepreneur and former candidate for President in 2024^[18]

Organizations

• Americans for Prosperity^[19]
• Citizens United PVF^[17]
• Club for Growth^[20]
• National Association for Gun Rights PAC^[21]
• NRA Political Victory Fund^[22]
• West Virginia Coal Association^[23]
• West Virginia Sheriff's Association^[24]

Debates

2024 West Virginia gubernatorial election Republican primary debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Republican	Republican	Republican
P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Non-invitee   I  Invitee W  Withdrawn
					Morrisey	Capito	Miller	Warner
1	Dec. 8, 2023	MetroNews	Hoppy Kercheval	YouTube	A	P	P	P
2	Feb. 29, 2024		Hoppy Kercheval	YouTube	P	P	P	P
3	Apr. 30, 2024	WSAZ-3		WSAZ-3	P	P	P	P

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of April 28, 2024
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Patrick Morrisey (R)	$3,624,343	$3,078,086	$695,276
Moore Capito (R)	$2,131,285	$1,519,377	$599,354
Chris Miller (R)	$1,615,788	$6,175,751	$519,538
Mac Warner (R)	$559,038	$372,948	$172,787
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State[25]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Moore Capito	Chris Miller	Patrick Morrisey	Mac Warner	Other	Undecided
Emerson College[26]	May 2–5, 2024	558 (LV)	± 4.1%	29%	21%	33%	15%	3%[b]	–
Research America[27][A]	April 24 – May 1, 2024	407 (LV)	± 4.9%	24%	25%	32%	10%	3%	6%
NMB Research[28][B]	April 20–22, 2024	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	31%	14%	23%	13%	–	18%
Research America[29][A]	April 3–9, 2024	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	29%	16%	31%	12%	3%	10%
WPA Intelligence[30][C]	April 1–3, 2024	501 (LV)	± 4.4%	20%	19%	37%	14%	–	9%
Emerson College[31]	March 19–21, 2024	735 (LV)	± 3.6%	14%	16%	33%	6%	–	29%
WPA Intelligence[32][C]	November 27–29, 2023	507 (LV)	± 4.4%	23%	10%	39%	14%	–	14%
American Pulse Research & Polling (R)[33][D]	November 13–14, 2023	414 (LV)	± 4.8%	23%	10%	31%	14%	–	23%
CAMP[34][E]	November 10–12, 2023	863 (LV)	± 3.26%	18%	11%	24%	21%	5%	21%
Orion Strategies[35][F]	June 17–20, 2023	651 (LV)	± 6.0%	30%	5%	31%	9%	8%[c]	17%
National Research Inc.[36]	February 23–28, 2023	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	15%	6%	28%	11%	6%[d]	29%

Results

Results by county:

  Morrisey

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  Capito

•   20–30%
•   30–40%

  Miller

•   20–30%
•   30–40%
•   40–50%

Republican primary results^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Patrick Morrisey	75,111	33.28%
	Republican	Moore Capito	62,181	27.55%
	Republican	Chris Miller	46,010	20.39%
	Republican	Mac Warner	36,170	16.03%
	Republican	Mitch Roberts	3,138	1.39%
	Republican	Kevin Christian	3,088	1.37%
Total votes			225,698	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Steve Williams, mayor of Huntington (2013–2025) and former state delegate (1986–1994)^[38]

Declined

• Joe Manchin, U.S. Senator (2010–2025) and former governor (2005–2010)^[39]
• Ben Salango, Kanawha County commissioner and nominee for governor in 2020^[40]

Results

Democratic primary results^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Williams	89,545	100.00%
Total votes			89,545	100.00%

Other candidates

Mountain Party

Nominee

• Chase Linko-Looper, U.S. Army veteran^[41]

Libertarian Party

Nominee

• Erika Kolenich, attorney and nominee for governor in 2020^[42]

Constitution Party

Nominee

• S. Marshall Wilson, former Republican state delegate (2016–2020) and write-in candidate for governor in 2020^[43]

Independents

Declined

• Joe Manchin, U.S. Senator (2010–2025) and former governor (2005–2010) (endorsed Williams)^[44]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[45]	Solid R	June 13, 2024
Inside Elections[46]	Solid R	July 14, 2023
Sabato's Crystal Ball[47]	Safe R	June 4, 2024
RCP[48]	Solid R	July 13, 2024
Elections Daily[49]	Safe R	July 12, 2023
CNalysis[50]	Solid R	August 17, 2024

Post-primary endorsements

Patrick Morrisey (R)

Federal officials

• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)^[51]

Steve Williams (D)

Federal officials

• Joe Manchin, U.S. Senator (2010–2025) and former governor (2005–2010)^[44]

Debates

2024 West Virginia gubernatorial election debate^[52]

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Morrisey	Williams
1	Oct. 29, 2024	MetroNews	Hoppy Kercheval	C-SPAN	P	P

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of October 25, 2024
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Patrick Morrisey (R)	$6,824,464	$6,183,264	$1,351,895
Steve Williams (D)	$250,255	$92,274	$156,426
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State[53]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Patrick Morrisey (R)	Steve Williams (D)	Undecided
Research America[54][G]	August 21–27, 2024	400 (RV)	± 4.9%	49%	35%	16%[e]

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Patrick Morrisey (R)	Joe Manchin (I)	Steve Williams (D)	Other	Undecided
Kaplan Strategies[55]	June 4, 2024	464 (LV)	± 4.6%	34%	26%	21%	1%	18%

Hypothetical polling

Patrick Morrisey vs. Joe Manchin vs. Steve Williams

Results

Margin swing by county^[56][57]

Legend

•   Democratic—+>15%
    Democratic—+12.5-15%
    Democratic—+10-12.5%
    Democratic—+7.5-10%
    Democratic—+5-7.5%
    Democratic—+2.5-5%
    Democratic—+<2.5%
    Republican—+<2.5%
    Republican—+2.5-5%
    Republican—+5-7.5%
    Republican—+7.5-10%

2024 West Virginia gubernatorial election^[58][59]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Patrick Morrisey	459,300	61.99%	1.50%
	Democratic	Steve Williams	233,976	31.58%	1.36%
	Libertarian	Erika Kolenich	21,228	2.87%
	Constitution	S. Marshall Wilson	16,828	2.27%	N/A
	Mountain	Chase Linko-Looper	9,596	1.30%	0.14%
	Write-in		10	0.00%	0.05%
Total votes			740,938	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Morrisey won both congressional districts.^[60]

District	Morrisey	Williams	Representative
1st	60%	34%	Carol Miller
2nd	63%	30%	Alex Mooney (118th Congress)
			Riley Moore (119th Congress)

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Mitch Roberts with 2%; Kevin Christian with 1%
3. J.B. McCuskey with 3%; "Another candidate" with 5%
4. J.B. McCuskey and Jeff Mullins with 3%
5. "Someone else" with 5%

Partisan clients

1. This poll was sponsored by West Virginia MetroNews and The Health Plan
2. This poll was sponsored by the Coalition for West Virginia’s Future, which supports Capito
3. Poll commissioned by Black Bear PAC, which supports Morrissey
4. This poll was sponsored by WMOV
5. This poll was sponsored by American Freedom Builders, which supports Warner
6. This poll was sponsored by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce
7. Poll sponsored by West Virginia MetroNews