Morrisey v Williams: Will they or won't they?

The West Virginia Weakly Reader for September 28, 2024

Sep 28, 2024

I woke up Monday morning to a story in my inbox from West Virginia Watch about the planned debate between the candidates for governor, Republican Patrick Morrisey and Democrat Steve Williams.

Debate night looked like it had been set for Monday, October 30. I made note of it as a major item to include in today’s WV Weakly Reader, but then the bottom fell out, as it often does in the news business.

On Tuesday, a statement from the Williams campaign circulated on social media saying the debate had been canceled. And then the TV station that had planned to host it confirmed that it had been “unable to schedule the debate.”

Williams says Morrisey “doesn’t want to have a free exchange of ideas.” But Morrisey’s campaign is suggesting a debate will happen, saying “We’ll be finalizing details in the near future.”

So will there be a gubernatorial debate before the November election? At least for now, that’s an open question.

And not for nothing, questions remain about the special legislative session that begins at the state Capitol in Charleston on Monday.

In fact, let’s start there.

The West Virginia Weakly Reader (sources cited in the footnotes)

🤔 Following a number of stories in the West Virginia press about frustration among state lawmakers about a lack of specifics heading into the upcoming special legislative, Governor Jim Justice began his media briefing on Friday talking about anything but. In fact, the upcoming session didn’t come up until roughly 15 minutes into the briefing, when the Charleston Gazette-Mail’s Beth Sergent asked him where things stand.1 Justice said negotiations with lawmakers are ongoing and that “we’ll go out on the call real soon.”2 He also said the session is likely to last a couple of days and “as for the legislative drafts, they’re not ready yet.” There are outstanding questions about how to pay for the additional tax cut Justice is seeking3 and how to address the state’s child care crisis.4

❓ My guess is as good as yours when it comes to whether Patrick Morrisey and Steve Williams will eventually come to an agreement to debate each other. But West Virginia Watch reported this week that in addition to the “finalizing details” statement from Morrisey campaign manager Jonathan Ewing “three separate sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed off the record to West Virginia Watch on Tuesday that another debate between the candidates is in the works to occur before the Nov. 5 election.”5 We’ll have to wait and see.

In a Facebook post this week, West Virginia University political science professor Sam Workman explained why Morrisey has little incentive to debate Williams.6
And, one can dream about what any debate should like. I like WVMetroNews reporter Brad McElhinny’s idea that it should be held on the state Capitol steps, with no moderators and no protection from the blazing sun.7

🗣️ Former Democrat turned Independent Senator Joe Manchin is withholding his endorsement of Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris over the Senate’s filibuster rule. Under the rule, 60 votes are required to pass most legislation. During an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday, Harris said the Senate should dispense with it when it comes to abortion rights — effectively making it easier to codify abortion rights in federal law.8 Manchin told reporters at the Capitol that “the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy.”9 Even though he ruled out an endorsement of Harris, he said he could still vote for her.

🍽️ Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear headlined the state Democratic Party’s annual Roosevelt Kennedy dinner in Charleston last night. As a popular Democratic governor in a red state, Beshear is a rising star in the party. He figured into the speculation over Kamala Harris’s running mate before she settled on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Beshear was interviewed Monday by WVMetroNews.10 The state Republican Party held its “Road To Victory” dinner Tuesday evening at the West Virginia Culture Center.11

🚔 State Senator Mike Maroney (R-Marshall) is in trouble with the law, again. Maroney is facing three new charges following his arrest Monday night in McMechen — the most serious being driving under the influence.12 In August, Maroney was charged with indecent exposure and was stripped of his chairmanship of the state Senate Health and Human Resources Committee.

⚖️ We somehow missed this last week, but better late than never. Remember Tim Pool? He’s the Martinsburg podcaster who was among six right wing influencers linked to a Russian disinformation operation after the Justice Department alleged the media company they were producing content for was secretly funded by Russian state media. He announced on his podcast last week13 that he has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit alleging that Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign defamed him when it posted a video from his podcast of him speaking with conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.14 Pool’s lawsuit says the campaign falsely suggested that he supports the extra-judicial killings “of his (or anyone else’s) political opponents.” His lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of West Virginia.15

📵 The Pendleton County Commission has kicked off a debate over the restrictions imposed by The National Radio Quiet Zone in the highlands of eastern West Virginia. Earlier this month, the county commission passed a resolution saying the regulations are outdated and have “not kept pace with the modern wireless communications tools used by first responders and our citizens.” Six more counties have joined Pendleton in calling for fewer restrictions.16 The NRQZ was implemented by Congress in the 1950s to safeguard the work of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank in Pocahontas County. It’s also intended to protect the National Security Agency’s Sugar Grove station from interference.

🌬️ Southern West Virginia took the brunt of the storm that came ashore Thursday night in Florida as Hurricane Helene. Tens of thousands of West Virginia homes and businesses are among the millions of power outages across the southeastern U.S.17 Officials in Mercer County declared a state of emergency late Friday morning.18

🌪️ West Virginia saw its 20th tornado this week. It touched down near Hillsboro in Pocahontas County on Wednesday. Media reports say it was the first in Pocahontas County in records dating back to 1875.19

🍌 Has anyone checked in with the Morgan County town of Paw Paw? The Associated Press published a story out of Ohio this week on how the drought and shifting weather patterns may be affecting the harvest of North America’s largest native fruit, also known as the West Virginia banana.20

🐔 Word of the apparent closure of a restaurant in downtown Huntington wouldn’t necessarily seem to have the juice to rise to the notice of the WV Weakly’s editorial board, but Dave and I probably like to eat more than the average joe — and this particular restaurant has the backing of former Marshall receiver and NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss. Crisppi’s Chicken was closed to customers this week. And while there is uncertainty about what exactly is going on, the owners have clashed with customers over … ketchup, among other things.21

🐝 Don’t say you weren’t warned. An email press release turned up in my inbox this week from the state Department of Health warning of a rise in emergency room visits stemming from bee, yellow jacket and hornet stings. The DoH says the rise has been significant compared to last year and the drought is believed to have put bees and wasps in a worse mood than usual.22 Just a couple of weeks ago, I had a long conversation about that with the guy who keeps my house bug free.

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