West Virginia Governor to Switch from Democrat to Republican<br />Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Democrat who was elected last year even as President Trump carried the state by 42 points, is expected to announce Thursday night at a rally with Mr. Trump<br />that he is changing parties, according to three sources familiar with the plans.<br />“Joe Manchin has been and always will be a proud West Virginia Democrat,” said Jonathan Kott, Mr. Manchin’s communications director.<br />In West Virginia, Representative Evan Jenkins, one of the Republicans seeking<br />Mr. Manchin’s Senate seat, said he would welcome the governor to his party.<br />Mr. Justice’s decision to change parties will further isolate Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat and himself a former governor.<br />“I simply couldn’t be a part of a liberal agenda that was so contrary to who we are<br />and what we believe in West Virginia,” said Mr. Jenkins, who switched parties several years ago<br />Mr. Justice scaled back his television advertising campaign late in last year’s gubernatorial campaign, telling Democratic<br />officials that, while wealthy on paper, he had limited liquidity, according to a Democrat involved in the conversations.<br />In his first months as governor, Mr. Justice, a colorful<br />and hulking figure who stands over six feet, seven inches, drew headlines beyond West Virginia’s border for bringing a plate of cow excrement into the state capitol to express his anger at a Republican-passed budget proposal.<br />Mr. Kott also said Mr. Manchin was still not interested in joining the Trump cabinet.
