Justice Addresses What Comes Next If He Wins U.S. Senate Seat
WHEELING — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice envisions himself possibly winning next week’s election for U.S. Senate, and he has thought about where he will live in Washington, on what committees he would possibly serve and how it would change his routine.
The Republican Justice provided some insight about how he would function as a senator during a stop in Wheeling Tuesday.
His Democratic opponent Glenn Elliott said last week he believed Justice wouldn’t be a full-time senator, wouldn’t live in Washington D.C. and didn’t plan to serve on any committees.
But Justice indicated Tuesday he has considered which Senate committees would be the best on which for him to possibly serve.
“I know what would be the best for my expertise, and that would be finance or energy,” Justice said. “Agriculture, too. We’ve been in the farming business in a big way. I know about agriculture, and about the Farm Bill and stuff. We’ll just have to see.
“You can put down what you would like to have, but that doesn’t mean it will become a reality. They (Senate leadership) do it all on ranking, and that can be tough.”
Current U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-West Virginia, has made his home in Washington on a houseboat named “Almost Heaven.” But Justice indicated a floating life on the water wouldn’t be for him.
“I’m not going to live in a houseboat, but I’m going to find a place, for sure,” Justice continued.
It isn’t a short drive from Justice’s home in Greenbrier County to Washington, D.C. He reports it would take more than four hours for him to drive to the U.S. Capitol, and about a half-hour if he chooses to fly.
“That’s not too bad,” Justice said. “It will be good.”
Justice, who remains the head girls basketball coach at Greenbrier East High School, indicated his coaching career will continue if elected and he would attempt to balance it with a Senate job.
“It may (interfere with Senate business), but so what?” Justice said. “I’m not going to let it interfere from the standpoint of doing my job. I’ve not let it interfere from the standpoint of doing my job as governor. I’ve got great assistant coaches, and I love being with the kids. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t go on vacation. I don’t do anything except here. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
Justice also voiced his opinions on current world issues, such as the war between Israel and Hamas.
“I’m a strong supporter of Israel,” Justice said. “They have been an incredible ally. The conflict goes back to biblical times, and I am a man of God. So I would stand rock-solid with Israel.
“I wish to goodness things would just get worked out so we have a stable MIddle East.”
On Ukraine issues, Justice believes the country’s war with Russia could have been avoided.
“I really believe if (Republican presidential candidate) Donald Trump would have been president, there is no way on earth Russia would have invaded Ukraine. But we’re there,” Justice said. “I don’t know much else because I don’t have the ‘inside baseball’ information, but what I know is we’re there, and a total evaluation has to take place.”
Justice said he totally understands people who object to sending billions of dollars to a foreign country so it can defend itself.
“We have people really hurting, and there’s a legitimate argument from those asking why we’re sending billions of dollars there when we have people hurting here,” he said. “But at the same time, we also don’t want a situation where we have a runaway Russia, too.”
Justice offered his view on what can be done to better help the economy. He said energy “runs the whole inflation show.”
“The number one thing we’ve got to do is turn loose our energy sector,” he said. “It drives this whole inflation bucket, It does. We don’t even have an energy policy in this country. That’s crazy.
“For anyone to think we can live without fossil fuels is living in a cave. I embrace all energy forms. But with all that said, we can’t live without fossil fuels today.
“The bottom line is the more energy any country has, the healthier their people are and the longer they live. That’s all there is to it.”
He called the current climate in Washington “dysfunctional.”
“We don’t even have the professionalism to address one another across the aisle,” Justice continued. “When Ronald Reagan was in office he and (late House Speaker) Tip O’Neill worked together everyday. Why in the world can’t we do that, be respectful and be professional about what we do?
“You’ll find a different animal with me. In all honesty, I won’t be there to do something for me. I’ll be there to do the right stuff.”
Justice has chosen not to campaign this election season, believing the people of West Virginia “already know me.”
He noted he has put up a few signs in his home Greenbrier County. The signs are adorned with the picture of his popular English bulldog Babydog, and contain the line, “Vote for my dad.”
Justice also was asked about what he thought of his Democratic opponent Elliott.
“To be perfectly honest, I don’t know Glenn really well,” he responded. “I know he was the mayor of Wheeling, and I’ve met him a couple of times.
“I’m going to be super-respectful and say he is a good guy, and a good candidate. But I’m going to win going away, so I don’t think that’s going to matter much.”
Elliott said he found Justice’s comments “interesting” when he previously sent out mailers calling him a “worthless Democrat” and a “failure.”
“But at the end of day, it’s not what he thinks about me or what I think about him. It’s about what the voters think about each of us,” Elliott said. “Whatever he says publicly now, he has told those who work in his administration that he intends to be a part-time U.S. senator.
“I cannot emphasize enough how being an effective U.S. Senator requires full-time attention. You simply cannot do the job from your couch in Lewisburg.”
Being a U.S. senator is a very different job than being governor, Elliott continued.
“He can say what he wants to say publicly, but people are telling me he Intends to be a part-time senator,” he said of Justice. “The only way to make yourself relevant is by being at the table — not in Lewisburg. This is the most important race on the ballot.”