Patrick Morrisey will be the next governor of West Virginia, after walloping Democrat Steve Williams.
The Associated Press called the race for Patrick Morrisey as soon as polls closed at 7:30 p.m. Just before 10:00 p.m., Morrisey led 62% to 32% with around three-quarters of votes counted.
In his victory speech to supporters at the Martinsburg Roundhouse, Morrisey said he would look to business to spark growth.
“This path to economic revival, it’s going to start on day one of a Morrissey administration, and it’s a commitment to cutting out the red tape that holds back our businesses and entrepreneurs,” he said.
The building was a key railroad junction for the Industrial Revolution and ground zero for the first nationwide strike, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
“Just as the Roundhouse was once a beating heart of American industry, we’re committed to making our state a leading force of our nation’s economy,” he said.
Morrisey, a three-term Republican attorney general, ran a multi-million dollar campaign, following a brutally bitter six-way primary in the spring.
As attorney general, Morrisey made a name for himself by suing the Obama and Biden administrations over regulations and, in recent years, going after the companies that fueled the opioid epidemic.
The governor-elect has vowed to cut more taxes on the heels of the largest income tax cut in West Virginia history and to audit the state government to find more ways to squeeze it for all its worth.
“I believe in limited government, to make sure that when you have savings, you return as much of it to the people as possible,” Morrisey said during a debate last month in Fairmont.
He has also promised to slash regulations and workforce rules in order to entice more industry to come to the rural state.
“We could be thought of from a regulatory perspective, the way Delaware is thought of from a corporation perspective,” Morrisey said, alluding to the First State’s status as a legal tax haven for major corporations.
However, the new governor will have to contend with a shrinking budget, one that analysts have noted is already woefully under-funding government services thanks to years of flat budgeting.
By keeping spending levels the same in the face of inflation, the Center of Budget and Policy has repeatedly argued the state has already effectively cut services. And a budget meeting last month revealed at least one major agency has used holes in hiring to cover regular expenses.
After Morrisey takes the oath of office in January, he will have one month to figure out the state budget and present it to the newly elected Legislature in February.
Election results aren’t official until final counts are in and certified in the coming weeks. The AP “calls” races based on vote counts, historical voting trends and other data, when their analysis shows a trailing candidate can’t come back to win.
This story has been updated with comments from Morrisey’s victory speech.