Poll: Jim Justice Shows Massive Lead in WV Senate Primary, Hypothetical General Election

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) shows a commanding lead in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, as well as in a hypothetical general election against incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).

The latest coefficient poll from April 24 to 25 found that Justice holds a 28-point lead against Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) in the 2024 West Virginia Senate Republican primary.

In the primary, 45 percent of the 753 likely voters in West Virginia said they would support Justice in the primary. In contrast, only 17 percent said they would support Mooney in the primary, while 38 percent said they were undecided on who to vote for. The GOP primary poll had a 3.54 margin of error.

General II (April 24-25; 974 LVs; +/-3.01%)
– Manchin 36%
– Mooney 30%
– Undecided 34%https://t.co/8wbDQ5ltiZ

— Kirk A. Bado (@kirk_bado) May 3, 2023

Justice also has a massive 14-point lead against Manchin in the hypothetical general election, while the poll shows that Mooney is behind an incumbent Democrat by six points.

The poll showed that 43 percent said they would support the Republican governor in the general election, compared to 29 percent who said Manchin, with 28 percent undecided. But, against Mooney in the general election, the poll showed that 36 percent were behind the incumbent Democrat, while only 30 percent supported Mooney, with 34 percent undecided.

Both general election questions had 974 likely voter respondents and a 3.01 margin of error.

As Breitbart News has reported in the past, Justice has close ties to former President Donald Trump, enjoys high approval ratings, has considerable personal wealth, and has run statewide and won the governorship twice. He was also reportedly heavily recruited by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), his super PAC, and the Senate Republican’s campaign arm. In contrast, the conservative Club for Growth has already committed to spending over $10 million, if they need to, to get Mooney elected.

Both will vie for the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who won the state in the 2020 presidential election by nearly 40 points.

On the other hand, Manchin is one of the more moderate Democrat senators and would be running for reelection in a deep red state. But he keeps everyone guessing about his next moves and leaves options open for what, if anything, he may run for in the next election.

He has not yet announced his decision on if he will run for reelection to keep his seat, nor has he confirmed if he would instead run for president or if he would run as a Democrat in the upcoming election.
However, the UVA Center for Politics marked West Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat as “Lean Republican” in the first set of projections for the 2024 cycle. Sabato’s Crystal Ball Managing Editor, Kyle Kondik, noted that starting the incumbent as an “underdog” with the “Lean Republican” rating is “fairly unusual.” The projection explained that this rating is partially due to Manchin’s being undecided on reelection and the state’s political landscape changing since he last ran.