Democratic candidate Jim Justice, left, shakes hands with W.Va. Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer, during a gubernatorial debate Tuesday at the Clay Center. (AP Photo)

CHARLESTON — Candidates for West Virginia governor sparred Tuesday night over the issue of the state’s recently downgraded bond rating during their first debate of the election season.

Democrat Jim Justice said Wall Street “will celebrate” by raising interest rates for the state if Republican Bill Cole is elected governor, with Cole responding that Justice is the candidate who has promised “to build a bridge” that forms relationships with Wall Street.

The two faced off in a debate at the Clay Center in Charleston sponsored by the West Virginia Press Association and AARP West Virginia.

Cole and Justice addressed questions about the stability of the state’s bond rating as The Fitch Rating service has downgraded West Virginia’s bond rating from AA+ to AA based on its reliance on revenue from the declining coal industry. The downgrade comes as much of West Virginia’s infrastructure is crumbling and in need of repairs.

“We need to make the state conducive to job creation,” said Cole, the Mercer County native who has served as West Virginia Senate president since January 2015. He is also the owner of car dealerships in southern West Virginia.

Cole cited the need for more employment diversification in the state, and said more employers could choose to move to the state if West Virginia was willing to lessen some of the regulations.

“Yes, our bond rating is important — I know something about bond ratings…,” said Justice, a businessman most known for being the owner of the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs. “Wall Street loves Bill Cole.”

He blamed Cole’s leadership in the West Virginia Legislature as being a reason for the bond rating drop, and said local governments and school districts will feel the pinch as they will have to pay the higher interest rates for improvement projects.

Cole countered Justice’s comment that Wall Street is “celebrating” his leadership of the state, pointing that Justice “is on the record as saying he won’t raise taxes as governor.”

Justice has said in interviews that while “he is not a proponent of Wall Street,” he was in favor of seeking the help of investors for West Virginia.

“(Justice)  has said his solution is to ‘build a bridge’ to Wall Street,” Cole said. “I think they might be celebrating that.”

Justice responded that any dealings the state would have with Wall Street would be a “temporary bridge.”

The candidates also differed in their thoughts on whether the state should pay to expand broadband in the state.

Justice said West Virginia state government should invest in expanding broadband across the state as a means of making the state more attractive to businesses out of state.

Cole, meanwhile, believes it is not state government’s role to invest in broadband, but rather “to facilitate” those in private industry to invest in the effort. He said he  plans to call together major players in the broadband industry to see if they can formulate a plan of action for he state.

Both candidates agreed recreational marijuana should not be legalized in the state, but that as governor they might consider the issue of legalizing medical marijuana.

Justice promised not to take a salary as governor, and said he has placed his daughter in charge of running the Greenbrier Resort.

“I don’t ask you to trust me,” he told those observing the debate. “I just ask you to stop trusting the other side.”

After the debate, Cole said it was unfair for Justice to blame him and Republican leadership in the Legislature for the state’s budgetary problems. He said the Legislature had been working off financial figures provided by Democrat Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, which proved to greatly underestimate the state’s projected budget shortfalls.

“West Virginia has full-time problems, and it needs a full-time governor,” Cole said. “I’m that person.”