Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) announced his campaign for U.S. Senate has raised nearly $1 million since announcing his candidacy in late April in what is expected to be a heated GOP primary to challenge Joe Manchin (D-WV) for his Senate seat in 2024.
At the end of the second fundraising quarter for the year, Justice raised $935,035 from 5,526 individual donors, with 93% of the donors giving less than $100, according to the campaign. They also emphasized no personal funds from Justice were included in those totals.
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"Gov. Justice has received tremendous support from West Virginians and those who have confidence in his leadership and conservative record of achievements in West Virginia,” said Roman Stauffer, the campaign manager for Jim Justice for U.S. Senate. “In only 64 days, with no prior federal fundraising experience, Gov. Justice raised nearly $1 million and continues to be the strongest Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in West Virginia.”
Justice’s entrance into the race comes after the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) political action committee, spent months recruiting the term-limited governor who is popular in the state and brings deep pockets as a wealthy businessman, setting up a clash with the party’s more conservative wing which has made it clear they intend to support Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV).
The Justice campaign noted the fundraising haul is significantly more than Mooney, who launched a Senate run last year and raised $505,000 and ended the quarter with nearly $1.4 million on hand.
Mooney has the backing of the Club for Growth, the influential conservative group known to spend heavily in recent Republican primaries. He also has been endorsed by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Mike Lee (R-UT).
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Republicans see the West Virginia Senate race as one of their most essential pickup opportunities to regain control of the Senate, which Democrats hold by a slim 51-49 margin. Manchin has held on to his seat despite West Virginia trending more red throughout his 12 years in the Senate. He is the last Democrat to hold statewide office.
Manchin is the only Senate Democrat in a competitive race who has not yet said if he’s running for reelection, which could explain his relatively small fundraising haul last quarter at just $371,000. However, Manchin’s campaign ended the first quarter of the year with $9.7 million, the most money of any of the other vulnerable senators.