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Exclusive / West Virginia’s Justice may delay decision on running for governor

Burgess Everett
Burgess Everett
Congressional Bureau Chief
Oct 2, 2026, 4:37am EDT
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Jim Justice
Kylie Cooper/Reuters

Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., “may have to” wait until after the midterms to decide on whether to run for his old job as governor — and challenge incumbent Gov. Patrick Morrisey, he told Semafor in an interview this week.

The Republican senator said he doesn’t “like jerking people around” and wanted to announce within a couple weeks, but added there’s “too much stuff going on” in the Senate for him to reflect on the choice.

“I really wanted to put some time in to really think: Do you really want to do this?” he said.

Nonetheless, Justice said he plans to make his decision “really soon.”

Most Republican senators think he will challenge Morrisey for his old job; Justice has made no secret that he thinks he’d do a better job than his successor.

“I love the people in West Virginia, and I don’t know that we’re going the right way,” he said.

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