Photo by Steven Allen Adams Attorney General Patrick Morrisey greets state Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio, and other supporters on his way to the Secretary of State’s Office to file for the GOP primary for governor in West Virginia

CHARLESTON – Attorney General Patrick Morrisey made it official Tuesday by filing as a candidate in the May 14 Republican primary to be West Virginia’s next governor.

Morrisey held a press conference outside the Secretary of State’s Office at noon Tuesday prior to filing.

“I’m official,” Morrisey said to the applause from gathered friends, campaign staff, and Republican lawmakers.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all your support,” Morrisey said. “We’ve been working really hard over the last nine months and getting stronger and stronger. And now we’re left with 120 days. Today, the campaign for governor officially begins.”

Morrisey was first elected attorney general in 2012 after defeating long-time Democratic Attorney General Darrell McGraw, then re-elected in 2016 and 2020. Morrisey also was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018, but was defeated by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Morrisey, a Republican, announced his campaign for governor of West Virginia last April. Since then, Morrisey has risen to the top of most polls and enjoys support from the pro-Morrisey Black Bear PAC and the conservative advocacy group Club for Growth, which has pledged to spend up to $10 million on Morrisey’s behalf.

“I think I’m the one proven conservative with a record of getting big things done for West Virginia,” Morrisey said. “Other people will try to talk about what they’ll do in the future. We’ve been able to do it.”

Two other Republican candidates for governor have filed ballot paperwork: Secretary of State Mac Warner; and Mitch Roberts, a Poca resident who ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor of West Virginia as an independent.

Other Republicans who filed pre candidacy paperwork to begin fundraising for potential campaigns for governor include former Kanawha County delegate Moore Capito, Huntington businessman Chris Miller, Martinsburg daycare operator Rashida Yost, Harman resident Roy Lee Springfield Jr. and former Bramwell police chief Edwin Vanover.

Morrisey touted his record as attorney general, including taking the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to court to challenge what Morrisey calls federal overreach.

“I ask every voter to look at one specific question: when Joe Biden starts to go after the jobs here in West Virginia, who do you want on the front lines? You want Patrick Morrisey with a record of taking on the Biden administration and defeating them time after time, or do you want some of these other guys who really wouldn’t know what to do on day one? I think the record is very clear.”

The only Democratic candidate to file for governor is Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, who filed last week. Williams is in his third four-year term as the mayor of Huntington. First elected in 2012, Williams is the first Huntington mayor to serve three terms, with this being his final term due to term limits.

Candidates for statewide office wishing to be placed on West Virginia’s Democratic or Republican primary ballots have until midnight Jan. 27 to either file in person with the Secretary of State’s in Charleston, the Secretary of State’s business hubs in Clarksburg and Martinsburg or by mail as long as the certificate of candidacy is postmarked by Jan. 27.