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Mountain State Money: Justice outraises Mooney in U.S. Senate Republican primary

By Steven Allen Adams 5 min read

CHARLESTON -- With his businesses facing financial issues, Gov. Jim Justice is relying on campaign donations to fuel his Republican campaign for U.S. Senate, but his haul for the most recent quarter was more than what U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney received.

Candidates for federal officers had until Sunday to turn in their October quarterly campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Committee covering the periods of July, August and September.

According to his quarterly report, Justice raised $602,559, which was 35% less than the $935,036 he raised during the July quarter covering the period between April, when Justice first entered the race, and June. But it was 126% more than the $265,858 raised by Mooney, who is Justice's closest competitor.

"Gov. Justice continues to receive strong support from West Virginians who have confidence in his leadership and conservative record of achievements," said Roman Stauffer, Justice's campaign manager.

Justice has raised more than $1.5 million election year-to-date and has more than $1.1 million in cash-on-hand heading into the remainder of 2023. But the campaign has $186,203 in debt, including owing $110,060 to the Justice-owned Greenbrier Hotel Corp.

Justice, whose businesses have been inundated over the last several years with state and federal court cases from stiffed vendors, creditors seeking hundreds of millions in loan guarantees and federal agencies seeking millions in penalties and fines, has said he does not intend to rely his personal wealth to self-fund his race for the seat held by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

"No true fiscal conservative would vote for a candidate as scandal-riddled as Jim Justice," said Mooney Campaign Manager John Findlay. "From faulty investments to unpaid court-ordered fines, Justice has proven he doesn't have what it takes to handle our country's most pressing issues. Congressman Alex X. Mooney is the only true conservative in this race."

Speaking during his weekly administrative briefing when asked about his fundraising by WV MetroNews Statewide Correspondent Brad McElhinny, Justice said his fundraising was down between the July and October quarters due to changing his national fundraising team.

"In all honesty, we just didn't have anybody for almost two months there," Justice said. "(Fundraising) is going great. People are really stepping up and everything, and I run off of their energy. From the standpoint of self-funding, I'm not going to do that. The reason I'm not going to do that is just plain and simple: I really believe this job is tough for anybody to do and I think if I'm willing to step up, we all need to step up and be together."

Besides fundraising, the Justice campaign will include financial support from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which hosted a fundraiser for Justice in Washington, D.C., last month. Justice also was endorsed by the Senate Leadership Fund, the campaign arm of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

While Justice outraised Mooney for the quarter, Mooney maintains an advantage in overall fundraising. Mooney raised more than $1.3 million election year-to-date and has nearly $1.6 million in cash-on-hand.

"I'm humbled by all those who are supporting my campaign and invested in this critical race," Mooney said. "Unlike my opponent, Jim Justice, who was recruited by the establishment swamp, I entered this race to fight for you. As your next senator, I will drain the swamp, I will bring back transparency, and I will bring accountability to the Senate. With your support, I am going to beat Joe Manchin and fight for our conservative values."

Nearly 18% of the money Mooney raised for the three-month quarter, $47,675, came from Team Mooney, a joint fundraising committee. Team Mooney consists of Mooney for Senate, Americans for Legislation Excellence PAC, Club for Growth Action and the Morgan County Republican Executive Committee.

Team Mooney raised $146,576 for the quarter and $571,304 calendar year-to-date. The joint fundraising committee has $23,946 in cash-on-hand for the remainder of the year after disbursements.

Club for Growth Action, the fundraising arm of the conservative Club Growth, raised more than $1.5 million, according to its FEC monthly report for August, and more than $27 million since January. For August, Club for Growth Action spent $20,230 opposing Justice. More than $346,000 has been spent by the Club for Growth Action against Justice Since April. Club for Growth previously committed $10 million toward supporting Mooney.

During that same time period, Club for Growth PAC has spent $30,149 on behalf of Mooney, along with $63,130 spent to support Mooney by the Senate Conservative Fund founded by Jim DeMint, a former Republican senator and former Heritage Foundation president.

In a poll released Friday by Emerson College, 41% of respondents support Justice compared to 28% who said they would support Manchin in a head-to-head general election race, with 15% saying they would support someone else and 16% were undecided.

If Mooney was the Republican nominee for Senate in 2024 and Manchin decides to seek a third six-year term next year, 37% said they would support Manchin, 31% said they would support Mooney, 13% said they would support someone else and 18% were undecided. The poll was conducted between Oct. 1 and Oct. 4 with 539 West Virginia voters through interactive voice response (IVR), emails, and an online panel.

Stauffer pointed to numerous polls showing Justice beating Mooney and Manchin, as well as the support of Mooney by the Club for Growth, which opposes former president Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.

"He is the strongest Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia and continues to raise more money and lea in every poll against his Primary Election opponent, who is endorsed by one of the most prominent anti-Trump Super PACs in the country this election cycle," Stauffer said.

Manchin has said he will make a decision about his political intentions at the end of this year. No quarterly FEC report was available for Manchin at press time, but Manchin has more than $10.7 million in cash-on-hand at the end of June.

Republican Senate candidate Zane Lawhorn and Democratic Senate candidate Zachary Shrewsbury filed no reports for the quarter.

Steve Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.

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