Republicans competing for West Virginia governorship report donations
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CHARLESTON -- The race for governor of West Virginia has gotten off to an early start, with early fundraising underway and independent groups vowing to pour millions of dollars to support the latest Republican candidate.
Friday marked the deadline for the 2023 first quarter campaign finance reports covering the months of January, February and March to be sent to the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office. All candidates, precandidates, and elected officials are required to file quarterly campaign finance reports.
While the candidate filing period doesn't begin until January 2024, those wishing to raise money and gauge support for a potential campaign can file as a precandidate either for the office they wish to seek or as an undeclared candidate.
Automobile dealership owner Chris Miller, the son of Republican 1st District Congresswoman Carol Miller who announced his candidacy for governor in December 2021, has the largest campaign war chest of any of the major Republican candidates for governor. During the three-month quarter, Miller raised $431,526, bring his total election year-to-date donations to $744,573.
Much of Miller's support comes from the state automobile dealers, including Bill Cole, the owner of several dealership chains in southern West Virginia. Cole is also a former Republican state senator and senate president who was the Republican nominee for governor in 2016, losing to then-Democratic candidate Jim Justice.
Miller also took out an additional $2 million loan for his campaign, bringing his total loan amount to $2.9 million. That leaves Miller with $3.3 million in cash-on-hand going into the rest of 2023.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Moore Capito, R-Kanawha, also has plenty of cash. Capito, the son of Republican U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, raised $251,007 for the quarter and $783,671 election year-to-date, leaving him with $705,466 in cash-on-hand.
Some of Capito's donors include Bray Cary, a former adviser to Justice; and Larry Puccio, a lobbyist for Justice-owned companies and adviser on Justice's 2016 campaign. Puccio is also a former chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party and chief of staff to then-governor Joe Manchin.
Other donors include Steve Ruby, a former assistant U.S. Attorney and lawyer representing several Justice-owned businesses; former Republican-turned-independent Charleston mayor Danny Jones; John Raese, a businessman and former Republican candidate for governor and U.S. Senate; and Woody Thrasher, a businessman and former member of Justice's cabinet who challenged Justice in the 2020 Republican primary for governor.
State Auditor J.B. McCuskey has already quickly raised campaign donations since entering the race on Feb. 28. McCuskey's donations for the quarter were $153,513. Combined with donations from his State Auditor account, McCuskey's election year-to-date donations were $527,859, leaving him with $387,053 in cash-on-hand.
Secretary of State Mac Warner got into the race at the beginning of January, raising $175,210 for the quarter. His election year-to-date donations were $227,927, leaving him with $162,018 in cash-on-hand and $12,000 in unpaid debts.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey entered the race Tuesday and his quarterly campaign finance report for the 2024 precandidacy period shows no donations, expenses, or cash-on-hand. His most recent Attorney General account filed Friday still shows $501,051 in cash-on-hand that he can move over to his precandidacy account.
Morrisey also has the support of two political action committees. The Club for Growth, a national conservative advocacy group, and Black Bear PAC, a pro-Morrisey political action committee led by former Morrisey political consultant Scott Will, both pledged a combined $10 million earlier this week to support Morrisey's campaign for governor.
The two groups claimed this week to have raised more than $5 million to support Morrisey, though it won't be clear how much they raised until they turn in their federal quarterly campaign finance reports due next Friday.
Berkeley County resident Rashida Yost raised $1,000 for the quarter and $4,841 for the election year-to-date, leaving her with $3,841 in cash-on-hand.
Reports were unavailable for Republican governor precandidates Terri Bradshaw or Edwin Vanover.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com