Jim Justice will almost certainly be West Virginia’s next senator. Whether he shows up to work is another question.
The current governor is rarely seen at the state capitol in Charleston, according to interviews with almost a dozen people involved in West Virginia politics on both sides of the political aisle. Some said it was difficult to get in touch with him when they sought guidance on his policy positions. That differed starkly from previous governors or other officials in state government.
Some West Virginia politicos said they are concerned about whether Justice is committed to the demands of commuting between their state and Washington regularly. And that could be a problem for Senate Republicans.
“If Democrats keep the Senate, Republicans take it, the majority is going to be slim regardless,” said Republican West Virginia state Del. Elias Coop-Gonzalez. “That means that a lot of those votes are going to really depend on him having to be there every single time. And my personal opinion is I don’t really have a lot of faith that he will be there for that.”
Republicans have a strong chance of winning control of the Senate next year, but they may only have a slim majority, possibly as narrow as one vote. Having a senator with a spotty attendance record could be a major liability for Republicans in the chamber. Absences could cost them votes, particularly on nominees.
“There’s an old saying that 80 percent of success in life is showing up, and Jim Justice rarely shows up,” said Democratic state Del. Mike Pushkin. “I don’t think anybody in West Virginia honestly believes that Jim Justice is going to show up in Washington, D.C., regularly.”
Justice’s campaign declined to respond to multiple questions related to attendance concerns, including whether Justice will commit to maintaining a residence in D.C. while serving as senator, or if he plans to commute to Washington. Spokesperson Roman Stauffer told POLITICO: “We decline to participate in this joke of a story and respond to your anonymous sources regarding the next United States Senator from West Virginia.”
There have been public concerns about the 73-year-old Justice’s health — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) last year questioned whether the governor was in good enough health to serve. Three people interviewed for this article repeated those health concerns. One of them said Justice, who is nicknamed “Big Jim,” has difficulty walking or standing for long periods of time.
Others said Justice has always been reticent to give up certain preferences and comforts, pointing to his initial refusal to move to West Virginia’s state capital — despite the fact that living elsewhere is a violation of state law.
“There is concern about — and it’s frequently talked about amongst legislators and amongst everybody here — about his poor health,” said a GOP state legislator who, like others for this story, was granted anonymity to speak frankly. “There was talk from time to time about whether he was going to be able to physically last and be able to carry out his term.”
Justice, who was first elected as a Democrat in 2016 but changed parties the next year, is widely popular in West Virginia. He handily won the GOP Senate primary against conservative Rep. Alex Mooney, though Mooney got the overwhelming majority of endorsements from members of the state legislature. The governor is known for his affable personality and his English bulldog, “Babydog,” who regularly joins him at public events.
But people interviewed by POLITICO said that folksy appeal, coupled with a widely beloved dog, at times insulated Justice from criticism.
“It’s an extension of him. Babydog is not like a prop. It’s like he has made the dog an associative tool to his humanity,” said one Republican involved in state politics. “It’s weird.”
On Capitol Hill, plenty of lawmakers bring their dogs into their offices during the day, but it’s not clear if Justice could bring Babydog on the Senate floor, which has strict regulations (senators were only allowed to bring their babies under age one on the floor as of 2018). The Senate Rules Committee did not respond to a request for comment on whether dogs are allowed in the chamber.
As governor, Justice also refused to give up his job as a basketball coach at Greenbrier East High School, which is approximately two hours away from the state capitol. And his resistance to moving to the state capital got him sued in his first term. He’d originally opted to live in Lewisburg instead, which is approximately 100 miles away. West Virginia has a residency requirement that requires governors to reside in the “reside at the seat of government” in Charleston. In 2021, Justice conceded, and moved.
Still, some lawmakers who acknowledged the governor’s allegedly sparse attendance defended Justice’s overall record, saying they expect he will prioritize West Virginia issues in Congress and step up as senator. Three suggested he would work across the aisle while still upholding conservative values.
“He’s not always around,” Republican state Del. Geno Chiarelli said. “He wasn’t always the most transparent. It wasn’t always easy to get a hold of him. But when it comes down to it, when the chips were down, we knew what he wanted.” He added that Justice’s staff “can get us the information that we need.”
State Senate President Craig Blair, another Republican, acknowledged that Justice is “a delegator,” but said he’s confident the governor will “assess the situation and determine what he needs to do to be able to appropriately serve West Virginia in the U.S. Senate.”
Justice is running against former Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott and is walloping the Democrat in the few public polls available. The seat is being vacated by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), who opted for retirement.
Manchin, who endorsed Elliott, was relatively tight-lipped on the governor in a brief interview. When asked about Justice’s alleged attendance issues, Manchin replied: “I don’t need to comment on that. Just get the calendar from the state.”
Senate Democrats’ campaign arm did try to obtain Justice’s official schedule via a public records request in 2023. Justice’s office did not share them, and wrote in a response that “none of the individuals above maintains a schedule or calendar solely for official business.”
In 2019, during the governor’s first term, The Associated Press did obtain a copy of seven months worth of Justice’s schedule, which showed him rarely meeting with his Cabinet and largely absent from the statehouse.
“Only thing I know is that amount of time and effort — and you see us running back and forth and running to all different things — takes an awful lot of energy, a lot of time,” the 77-year-old Manchin said. “But I’m hoping he’s able to represent the people of West Virginia the way he should, if he becomes elected.”
