Last week, Gov.-elect Patrick Morrisey provided the press and public a sneak peak of sorts on his transition plans for the next two months as he prepares to move into the Governor’s Mansion on Kanawha Boulevard East in Charleston.

That’s an interesting sentence to read again: a governor who is actually going to reside in Charleston as constitutionally required and live in the Governor’s Mansion. What a thought!

Morrisey spoke to media at an open, in-person press conference — again, it’s amazing to write that — announcing his seven-person transition team, two consultants who will be providing further guidance and landing teams to begin looking at how the state’s multiple departments and agencies operate.

These landing teams will also review several key areas of public policy and help Morrisey craft an ambitious 100-day agenda once he takes the oath of office on Jan. 13, 2025. This will include legislation that will be ready for lawmakers to consider during the 2025 legislative session beginning later in February.

There are 57 days until the inauguration and 87 days until the Legislative gavels in for its annual 60-day session. So, let’s just say there are 147 days between now and the end of the 2025 legislative session at midnight on April 12. That’s not a lot of time to do an up-and-down review of the whole of state government operations, then turn around and present a series of bills to get through.

However, Morrisey is a hard-charging guy. He and his fellow Republican lawmakers know they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally remake state government the way they’ve always wanted to. They have an opportunity to change the internal culture of these departments and agencies, for good or for ill.

It will be up to your West Virginia statehouse press corps to scrutinize what Morrisey and lawmakers plan to do. They are going to make mistakes along the way. But as a public policy nerd, I am really intrigued by what we could see in the coming weeks and months.

∫∫∫

Some key dates to keep in mind: new U.S. senators can be sworn in by Jan. 3, meaning Gov. Jim Justice could step down by then. That would also mean that Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, would briefly have to serve as Senate president acting as governor (yes, that is the real title, though acting Senate president is fine on second reference). However, Justice could wait to resign until Morrisey officially takes the oath of office on Jan. 13

The Legislature will gavel in on Jan. 8 to open and publish election returns, as well as to formally elect the majority and minority leadership teams for the House of Delegates and Senate. Expect no changes to the top of the pyramid in the House, with Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, likely staying put. A new majority leader and majority whip will need to be selected, and new chairs of key committees will need to be appointed.

But all eyes are on the state Senate, which will have to select a new Senate president (who could briefly serve as Senate president acting as governor unless Justice waits to resign as governor until Morrisey is sworn in on Jan. 13).

The choices have now dwindled to three: Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha; Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr, R-Putnam; and Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee Chairman Randy Smith, R-Tucker.

Both Takubo and Tarr have been close members of Blair’s leadership team, but they represent different political spectrums. While both would call themselves conservatives, Takubo tends to be more of a chamber of commerce-style conservative who came in during the tenure of former Mercer County Senate President Bill Cole. Tarr, whose path to the Senate is interesting and unusual, has been the fiscal hawk of the Senate and certainly more socially conservative than Takubo.

Smith is the wild card. He is certainly further to the right than Takubo and even Tarr. While coming across in his floor speeches as an aw-shucks, plain-spoken coal miner and grandfather, he has a reputation behind the scenes of being hard-headed and quick-tempered.

You could see all three of these people cornering fellow senators in hallways during last week’s legislative interim meetings. The Senate Republican caucus also met last week to finalize the ground rules for selecting the next president when the caucus meets on Sunday, Dec. 8.

The Senate Republican caucus has been splintering for some time, with it becoming noticeable during COVID. It has only gotten worse since 2022. You have one side of the caucus who are traditional conservatives more focused on economic issues than anything else. Then you have those who have become more enamored with social issues. These two factions have butted heads behind closed doors and sometimes on the Senate floor itself.

Between now and December, you’re going to see a lot of horse trading. Committee chairmanships, vice chairmanships and even offering to allow certain pieces of legislation to be considered — all of these options are on the table.

I can assure you that I will be outside the Senate chamber on Dec. 8, waiting for the metaphorical white smoke that will signal a new Senate president has been selected.