photo by: Derek Redd

West Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Moore Capito talks to a group that joined him Monday afternoon at Figaretti’s Restaurant in Wheeling. Capito made several stops around West Virginia on Monday in the final hours before today’s primary election.

CHARLESTON — With a tightening race and with voters hitting the polls this morning, former West Virginia lawmaker Moore Capito wrapped up a whirlwind tour of the state Monday evening in Charleston seeking votes in the Republican primary for governor.

Capito, a former Republican member of the House of Delegates and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, rallied supporters in downtown Charleston at his campaign headquarters on Capitol Street, mere blocks away from the site of the former State Capitol Building.

“It’s tight. The truth is, it’s going to be a really tight race and we’re going to win,” Capito said. “We’re going to win because you’ve put in the work. We’re going to win because every single person out there wants a brighter tomorrow … They want a vision for the future. They want something to run to and not to run from. And that’s the campaign that we have run.”

Capito was joined Monday evening by his fiancee, Liberty Vittert, daughter Eliza, son Arch, sister Shelley Capito, father Charlie Capito, and his mother, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

“He’s done a great job of talking about things that are important in our communities and everywhere else,” Capito said. “I have never seen anybody with so much energy, always going … That’s the kind of energy that he would bring to the governor’s office; looking for new ideas, looking for policies, looking for people to help, looking for the next generation to move forward.”

Moore Capito began Monday in Bluefield campaigning with Gov. Jim Justice, the GOP frontrunner for U.S. Senate to succeed the retiring U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Capito then traveled to Bridgeport, Wheeling, and Parkersburg.

In Wheeling, he discussed the need for solid infrastructure throughout the Mountain State.

“In West Virginia, we have to grow,” he said. “And in order to grow, you have to have good assets. As far as infrastructure is concerned, there are roads and bridges, of course, and that includes broadband. We’ve got to make sure that our broadband is deployed throughout West Virginia so that we’re connected to the rest of the country.”

Capito will vote this morning at Holz Elementary School in Charleston and hold an election night watch party at the Charleston Marriott.

“This campaign has been all excitement, all the time,” Capito said. “We’ve driven nearly a hundred thousand miles across this state. We’ve been to every single county multiple times, because as I’ve said multiple times, the solutions to the challenges that we face as West Virginians are in the communities. And it’s with the people.”

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has led in polling in the GOP primary for governor, with Capito coming in a close second in the most recent Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media poll released last week, with Morrisey at 28% and Capito at 25%, with Huntington business Chris Miller at 19% and Secretary of State Mac Warner with 12%.

Both Morrisey and Miller were also on the campaign trail Monday, beginning in southern West Virginia, with both candidates making stops at Dolly’s Diner in Princeton.

“There is one proven conservative running for governor with a record of getting big things done for West Virginia,” Morrisey said in a social media post. “Make sure you tell your friends to support our campaign to defeat Capito as Miller and Warner have fallen too far behind to win! Conservatives need to unite against the liberal!”

“Traveling the state, meeting voters before polls open tomorrow,” Miller said on social media. “West Virginia is ready to elect a business guy like President Trump who will make the insiders the outsiders and drive our state forward.”

Justice, who served two terms as governor, endorsed Capito for governor in April nearly one year after being endorsed for U.S. Senate by U.S. Sen. Capito. Justice’s U.S. Senate campaign has been supported by political action committees connected to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Justice also received a video endorsement over the weekend from former Republican President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for president. Trump endorsed Justice on Trump’s TruthSocial last October over U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va.

In his Saturday video, Trump said Justice is strong on border issues, supports an all-of-the-above energy policy, and is pro-2nd Amendment.

“Big Jim will be a great United States senator for West Virginia,” Trump said in the video. “The election is Tuesday, so please get out and vote for Big Jim Justice. He has done a fantastic job. He is respected by everybody. He has my complete and total endorsement. He will just be wonderful. He’s a wonderful man, tough, strong, and he loves West Virginia.”

Justice will watch election returns once polls close tonight at 7:30 p.m. from the Governor’s Mansion in Charleston. Mooney will join supporters tonight at Pendleton Hall in Charles Town as the polls close. Mooney spent the weekend campaigning in Wood and Mason counties. He also attended a Moms for Liberty event in St. Albans.

According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, there were 84,648 votes cast during the early voting period, with 6,212 absentee ballots received by county clerks as of Monday.

Polling precincts open this morning at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. More information on polling locations, voter I.D. requirements, sample ballots, and more can be found at GoVoteWV.com, the Secretary of State’s one-stop website for voting information.