(Capitol Notes - Graphic Illustration/MetroCreative)

I have to admit, when I first heard the rumors last week that State Auditor J.B. McCuskey was going to jump out of the Republican race for governor of West Virginia and into the attorney general’s race, I didn’t believe it.

I was told last week by sources there was a poll out in the field with the hypothetical scenario of McCuskey as a candidate for attorney general, but I just couldn’t believe it.

For one, I had been on the phone with McCuskey on July 19 arranging for an interview for a series I’m working on about the Republican candidates for governor. While several people had told me they believed he would jump out of the governor’s race, all my conversations with him led me to believe he hadn’t yet planned to pull out.

Secondly, McCuskey is close friends with one of the two announced GOP candidates in that race, state Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, Senate majority whip and vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The two have closely worked the last couple of years on bills making it easier for local governments to tear down dilapidated properties and streamlined tax sales for properties, including prohibiting individuals from countries of particular concern from participating in tax sales.

Heck, from what I understand, Weld stays with the McCuskeys when he comes down from Brooke County. Their wives are friends. I just couldn’t fathom that McCuskey would jump into the same race as his close friend. McCuskey even gave Weld a glowing endorsement when Weld entered the race a couple of months ago.

McCuskey called me Sunday to let me know he was jumping into the race for attorney general and Weld called me not long after that. Those specific conversations were off-the-record, but I feel safe in saying that for McCuskey the decision was business and not personal. For Weld, he was hurt and blindsided, but he had no intention of dropping out of the race.

McCuskey entering the race definitely shakes things up. It was a two-person race between Weld and state Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. The most recent poll had Stuart only slightly ahead of Weld with more than 50% of those polled on the fence. And after the most recent campaign finance reports came out, Weld far outraised Stuart.

But with McCuskey as a third wheel, he brings some new variables. First, he is the only candidate in the race who has won two statewide elections. Of course, he had no real serious challenger in those races, but that does give him statewide name I.D. Secondly, he brings more than $400,000 in cash-on-hand raised through his gubernatorial campaign, which is four times more than Weld and significantly more than Stuart.

Of course, McCuskey is going to face some challenges too. Weld and McCuskey are politically similar and what I would call traditional Republicans. They could easily take votes away from each other. However, McCuskey and Stuart have both been involved in Kanawha County politics for the last decade or so and can also take votes away from each other.

But the McCuskey/Weld dynamic is what is getting much of the attention. McCuskey may consider his entrance into the race business and not personal, but Weld has certainly taken it personally. Weld’s statement Monday about McCuskey was pure fire.

Weld is under pressure to run for reelection to the state Senate and become the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee since the current chairman, state Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, is running in 2024 for one of two spots on the state Supreme Court of Appeals. Concerns are traditional conservatives in the Senate, small-government, local-control Republicans, could be outnumbered by the national conservatives, those intent on using the levers of big government to push their ideals.

Weld is part of the traditional conservatives while Stuart is part of the national conservative faction — natcons. And the natcons hold several seats on Senate Judiciary. Some would like to see Weld stay and take the gavel. But Weld made it very clear to me that he doesn’t want to do that, and he definitely isn’t doing that now.

The key for Weld will be keeping things business, not personal. It’s easy to be angry right now, but Weld will have to shake it off and keep focusing on getting around the state and especially into the important Eastern Panhandle. Besides, it’s possible that politicos may turn on McCuskey for the perceived slight to Weld.

As for Stuart, he needs to focus less on being so online and trying to be former president Donald Trump. I recently watched “Oppenheimer,” but I’m a fan of a 1989 movie about the atomic bomb called “Fat Man and Little Boy.” There’s a line in that movie where a scientist tells J. Robert Oppenheimer “You ought to stop playing God, because you’re no good at it, and the position’s taken.” Replace “God” with “Trump” and that is what someone should tell Stuart.

Just ask Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis how trying to be Trump-lite is working out for him. The only person who can be Trump is Trump. Trying to emulate Trump’s style, mannerisms, writing style and meanness just doesn’t work. And in a state like West Virginia, where most are not on Twitter (or X or whatever Elon Musk finally decides to call it), Stuart might as well be speaking into the void.

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