File Photo U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, left, and West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, right, appear with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in Charleston in November.

CHARLESTON – West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito are supporting different GOP statehouse candidates in the May 12 primary election, as affiliated groups increasing their spending on races.

On Thursday, Morrisey put out a call on his personal social media seeking volunteers to door knock on behalf of Republican candidates he backs in the GOP primary. Meanwhile, Capito dropped a quarter of a million dollars into a political action committee headed by the son of the late congressman David McKinley and state business leaders.

Morrisey, through political stops and his personal social media, has been endorsing a slate of Republican incumbents in the House of Delegates and state Senate, as well as GOP challengers to sitting lawmakers.

On Wednesday, Morrisey published a lengthy post on Facebook attacking House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, and urging support for Criss’ primary opponent, Charles Hartzog.

“Hartzog … will be a much stronger advocate for Wood County than the long-term incumbent,” Morrisey wrote. “If voters want someone who will attack the affordability challenges facing our state, Hartzog will be the better choice. Hartzog is a working man and can relate to the struggles of everyday voters.”

Other social media endorsements by Morrisey include Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson (challenged by Robert Fluharty); state Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood (challenged by Del. Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood); Greenbrier County pastor Jonathan Comer (challenging state Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier); state Sen. Anne Charnock, R-Kanawha (challenged by South Charleston businessman Michael Jarrouj); Greenbrier County attorney Mary Catherine Tuckwiller (challenging Del. Ray Canterbury, R-Greenbrier); state Sen. Trenton Barnhart, R-Pleasants (challenged by former delegate Jason Harshbarger); and state Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio (challenged by retired businessman Joe Eddy.)

Campaign finance reports this year also show donations by Morrisey to state Sen. Mark Maynard, R-Wayne; and state Sen. Kevin Bartlett, R-Kanawha. First lady Denise Morrisey has donated to the Comer and Hartzog campaigns.

Capito has also made a number of endorsements, recording endorsement videos for Fehrenbacher; state Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha (challenged by former delegate Chris Pritt); Dr. Michael Antolini (challenging state Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh); Robert Dobkin (state Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, is retiring at the end of his term); former delegate Marc Harman (challenging state Sen. Jay Taylor, R-Taylor); Samuel Lusk (Del. Doug Smith, R-Mercer, is retiring at the end of his term); and Del. Gary Howell, R-Mineral (challenged by Charles “Dutch” Staggs).

“I’m proud to stand here with Gary Howell,” Capito said in April 13 video endorsement. “He’s been a great House of Delegates member for Mineral County for years. But so much you’ve done in the last several years – cutting taxes, growing our economy – is making sure that our conservative values are what the folks in Mineral County are seeing but also what you’re doing as you’re serving the state.”

PAC vs. PAC

Political action committees and independent expenditure committees that either supported Morrisey’s 2024 GOP primary for governor or include staff with connections to other Morrisey-affiliated groups – such as Black Bear PAC and the West Virginia Prosperity Group – have also increased their spending heading into early voting, which began Wednesday.

According to a review of independent expenditure reports, Sugar Maple PAC, Americans for Prosperity and School Freedom Fund spent nearly $1.3 million between March 23 and April 22 to support and oppose statehouse candidates, including candidates Morrisey has endorsed. As of Wednesday, these three groups spent an additional $653,913, bringing the total spent by them to date to more than $1.9 million.

Americans for Prosperity, a national conservative advocacy group with a West Virginia chapter, has spent the most to date with $722,625 supporting or opposing many of the same candidates as Morrisey, with a few exceptions. School Freedom Fund, a group run by national conservative advocacy group Club for Growth, has spent $682,088 to date. Both Americans for Prosperity and Club for Growth supported Morrisey’s 2024 GOP primary bid for governor.

Sugar Maple PAC – which includes contributions from GOP megadonors Jeff Yass and Thomas Klingenstein and shares a treasurer (Charles Gantt) with the pro-Morrisey Black Bear PAC (funded by Club for Growth in 2024) and Morrisey gubernatorial transition organization West Virginia Prosperity Group – has spent $546,207 in statehouse races to date.

“We believe West Virginia’s future depends on strong conservative leadership rooted in the values that make our state strong,” according to Sugar Maple PAC’s website. “We are committed to supporting leaders who will fight for economic growth, defend individual liberty, protect our communities, and preserve the principles that matter most to West Virginia families. By standing with proven conservatives, we can help keep our state moving forward for the next generation.”

On the other hand, Capito’s re-election campaign for U.S. Senate – which had more than $5 million in cash on hand at the end of March, according to her most recent Federal Election Commission report – donated $250,000 in April to the Mountaineer Freedom Alliance-Action Fund, which is supporting business-friendly GOP incumbents and candidates in 12 contested state Senate races.

Mountaineer Freedom Alliance, a C corporation, was founded last year by Wheeling businessman David H. McKinley, son of the late former U.S. Rep. David B. McKinley who died on April 17, to support conservative statehouse candidates who were more focused on economic development and job creation.

MFA-Action Fund spent $343,956 between April 17 and Wednesday on expenditures supporting Harshbarger, Antolini, Deeds and Ken Reed (challenging state Sen. Darren Thorne, R-Hampshire), while also opposing Thorne, Roberts and Pritt.

“Control of the West Virginia Senate matters for tax policy, for workforce development, for energy, for education,” McKinley wrote in an April 25 newsletter. “These twelve races could determine the direction of our state for the better part of a decade. With the most substantial independent expenditure effort in MFA’s history behind us, we have the resources to make a real difference. But resources alone don’t win elections, people do.”

According to a 2026 primary campaign finance report filed with the Secretary of State’s Office covering a period between April 1 and April 26, MFA-Action Fund raised $500,000, including $50,000 donated by McKinley, $125,000 from MFA, $75,000 from the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce and $250,000 from Capito for West Virginia, the senator’s federal re-election campaign.

“Since 2000, Senator Capito along with many like-minded conservatives transformed the WVGOP from a small party into a powerhouse through landslide wins in 2014 and 2020 that delivered historic majorities and believes the party’s hard-won progress is threatened by an influx of out-of-state funding used to fuel misleading and personal attacks in this primary,” said Brent Scott, communications director for the Capito campaign.

“The Senator remains focused on shifting the discussion back to her example of positively uplifting candidates because West Virginia voters are tired of negativity and deserve a united Republican front that delivers conservative results our state needs,” he continued.

The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce has also made $166,436 in independent expenditures to date. Of that, $92,866 was spent supporting Dr. Steven Eshenaur (challenging Bartlett); Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison (challenged by Megan Krajewski); Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood (challenged by Melissa McCrady); Criss; and Del. Jeff Stephens, R-Marshall (challenged by Don Dewitt). Another $73,570 was spent opposing Azinger, Pritt and Del. Laura Kimble, R-Harrison (challenged by Tim McNeely).

In MFA’s April 25 newsletter, McKinley said like-minded groups and individuals, such as the Capito campaign and West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, believe it is important to support candidates with in-state funding versus allowing out-of-state funding to determine who serves in the Legislature.

“Outside groups, organizations no West Virginian has ever heard of or belongs to, have already spent over a million dollars in just the past few weeks trying to protect the senators who advanced their agenda instead of ours,” McKinley wrote. “They’re not just spending. They’re lying about our candidates.

“When outside groups buy your legislature, you don’t get a legislature working on your problems. You get one working on theirs,” he continued. “That’s exactly what happened after 2024 — and it’s exactly what we’re fighting to reverse in 2026.”