West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) won the state’s Senate race on Tuesday evening.
The race was called by Decision Desk minutes after the polls closed in the Mountain State.
This is a seat that has flipped Republican, spelling bad news for Democrats. Justice defeated Glenn Elliott, a lawyer and former mayor of the city of Wheeling, who was endorsed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Manchin announced his retirement previously.
According to the Associated Press, Justice was elected governor as a Democrat in 2016, then switched to the GOP seven months after entering office. Justice made the announcement at an event with former President Donald Trump to make the announcement (via AP):
This will mark the first time since 1958 that both of West Virginia’s U.S. senators are Republicans. The other is Shelley Moore Capito, who was elected to a second term in 2020.
This week, left-wing mainstream outlet CNN acknowledged that the Senate map became “more daunting for Democrats” with the retirement of Manchin. This put pressure on Democrats to hold on to their competitive seats while “trying to knock off Republicans” in strongholds like Texas and Florida.
According to The Hill, Democratic leaders in Washington privately conceded months ago that Republicans would capture the seat. Justice is currently wrapping up his second term as the state's governor (via The Hill):
Justice had a 51 percent approval rating compared to a 28 percent disapproval rating earlier this year, making him a formidable candidate.