Early voting ends today in West Virginia

The West Virginia Weakly Reader for Saturday, November 2, 2024

Nov 02, 2024

Hola, amigos!

I’m recently back from a mini-break from Weakly editorial duties — part of which included celebrating my 40th birthday in Mexico City with my twin brother, Dan.

What a time to escape the U.S. — just ahead of a closely watched, monumental election? Don’t ask me what it took to get two weeks off, right before the Super Bowl of American politics. I’ll just write it off as dumb luck.

Anyway, muchos gracias to Giles for holding down the fort in my absence. As repayment for his good will, I’ll be taking over for the next few weeks to give my co-publisher a well-earned break.

I’m not going to yammer on too long about my experience south of the border — it was simply a bunch of Dan and I goofing off. (If there was an award for goofing off, we’d win every time. It’s kind of our thing.)

However, I will say we had the pleasure of meeting and spending some time with NPR correspondent Eyder Peralta, who’s based in Mexico City (and freshly back from a reporting trip in Lebanon). We got some insight into the Latin American perspective on the looming U.S. elections (at least when it comes to the presidential ticket). No surprise: the people of Mexico are closely watching things — as immigration remains front and center in terms of national issues headed into Tuesday.

But let’s get back to news about the home turf, shall we? A U.S. Senate seat, both seats in the U.S. House, the governor’s office, all five constitutional offices, all 100 seats in the House of Delegates and 17 of 34 state Senate seats are up for grabs (as well as plenty of other local offices, levies and such) on this year’s ballot in West Virginia.

With early voting closing this evening, the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office reports 244,336 ballots had been cast as of the close of early voting locations on Thursday.1 Of the 26,179 absentee ballots that have been requested, 19,851 have been returned so far. (Those numbers will be updated early next week, but that’s what we know as of now.)

For some valuable context, there were more than 1.2 million registered voters in the state as of October 15 (the deadline to register to vote in the November 2024 election), according to the Secretary of State’s office.2

My elementary math skills put the state at about a 23% voter participation rate so far this go-around — leaving plenty of room to make up and match overall general election turnouts in 2020 (55.9%) and 2016 (49.2%).3

The West Virginia Weakly Reader — For more on the sources we use, have a look at the footnotes to see the original reporting from news outlets across West Virginia.

🗳️ With early voting well underway, the two major-party candidates for governor squared off Tuesday night on the campus of Fairmont State University. Republican attorney general Patrick Morrisey and Democratic mayor of Huntington Steve Williams outlined widely different perspectives and goals for West Virginia’s future during a debate hosted by WVMetroNews.4 (In case you missed it and want to watch for yourself, you can find an archive on CSPAN.5) The two candidates differed greatly on issues such as education, abortion rights and taxes.6

🏛️ Speaking of the governor’s office, the current chief executive and favorite in the race for U.S. Senate, Gov. Jim Justice, held a ceremonial bill signing Thursday to mark another cut to personal income taxes. Passed during a special legislative session held in recent weeks, SB 2033 will reduce the personal income tax rate by another 2% (following legislation approved in 2023 that called for other cuts). This latest reduction to the PIT will slash state revenue by about $46 million each year.7 The governor’s celebration of the new tax cuts come as state revenue officials report October collections were $15 million below estimates.8

💸 With Justice in his own race for U.S. Senate, reporting on the current governor has remained focused on the finances of his sprawling family business interests. According to a report from WVMetroNews9, the Justice family businesses have paid down some of their debts, including some property tax debts, some debts related to sales taxes and some court-related fines. Even so, Justice’s business operations remain the subject of scrutiny. A number of environmental groups have asked one of the Justice-held companies, A&G Coal Company to be held in contempt for failing to reclaim three mines in Virginia.10

🗳️ A Democrat running for state Senate in Mingo County was left off the ballot for a portion of early voting. Jeff Disibbio was nominated to run for the seat in the West Virginia Senate’s 6th District after fellow Democrat and primary winner Randy Fowler was removed from the ballot after failing to file campaign finance reports. But Disibbio’s name wasn’t on the ticket when the first set of early ballots were punched.11 West Virginia Democratic Party chair Mike Pushkin said the Mingo County Clerk’s Cffice had corrected the ballot as of Monday, but does not plan to allow the roughly 670 voters who have already voted to recast their choices with a corrected ballot. “Mistakes like this rob voters of their chance to reflect their will at the ballot box, and it’s unacceptable,” Pushkin said in a statement. Ballot errors were also reported in Wayne and Marshall counties, though they have been characterized as smaller and local officials say they were quickly fixed.12

🔥 Two corrections officers at the Southern Regional Jail have been charged with arson in connection with the fire that destroyed the former home of the late Gov. Hulett C. Smith.13 David W. Cole and Billy R. Workman were arrested and charged for setting fire to the mansion, which is now owned by James “Jay” C. Justice, III, the son of current West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice. According to criminal complaints filed in Raleigh County Circuit Court, Cole and Workman told police the fire was started by igniting brake fluid purchased a gas station near the historic home. Police say Cole entered the home, covered a styrofoam plate he found on the floor with the brake fluid and set fire to the plate. The two men later returned to the watch the fire burn, with Cole capturing video of the blaze on his cell phone.

👩‍⚖️ A pair of Jefferson County commissioners who were removed from their posts last year after failing to attend meetings have accepted plea deals on 42 misdemeanor charges. Tricia Jackson and Jennifer Krouse and will each be fined $50 plus court costs (totaling $231.48) after entering “no contest” pleas on one count of failure to perform official duties.14 The other 41 charges will be dismissed as a result of the plea deal.

👶 A Cross Lanes daycare center has been temporarily closed after investigators from the state Department of Human Services found evidence of physical and psychological abuse.15 But a parent says calls to Child Protective Services to allege abuse at the Cross Lanes Child Care and Learning Center went unnoticed until a Facebook post — which purportedly included an audio recording of an employee spitting on a 4-year-old — went viral. One employee at the center is facing child abuse charges after allegedly smacking a child with a disability.

🏈 After settling into another less-than-stellar season, some West Virginia University football fans are calling for the ouster of head coach Neal Brown — and they’re going to great lengths to be heard. A group of alumni (apparently with some serious disposable income) have paid for billboards around Morgantown demanding Brown be canned for his lackluster record at the helm of the Mountaineer program.16 A website dedicated to the cause has also been set up, with fans behind the movement saying, they expect more from WVU’s team. “It’s no secret that our football program has struggled in recent years. Declining performance, lack of competitiveness, and a general sense of dissatisfaction have left many of us feeling frustrated and disillusioned,” the statement on the website reads.

What we’re reading (Opinion and whatnot):

COMMENTARY: West Virginia coal miners need Capito to step up and fight for them ~ Gary Hairston, West Virginia Watch
Cruising to victory in West Virginia, soon-to-be Senator Jim Justice helps Trump in Pennsylvania ~ Audrey Fahlberg, National Review

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