West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, said Tuesday that he is likely “ready” for a new position in 2024, adding to growing speculation that he may enter the state’s Senate race in an attempt to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
In a letter to supporters headlined “Big news coming,” Morrisey, who has represented the state as attorney general since 2013, wrote, “I’m ready for these new fights — and likely a new position in 2025 — because I am already leading in the arena and regularly beating back the Biden agenda.”
“With Election Day 2022 behind us, we will all be deluged very soon with messages from potential candidates for virtually every electoral position under the sun,” Morrisey said. “As for me, I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing, regardless of what position I may run for in the future.”
Morrisey said he has been “fighting non-stop” against President Joe Biden’s administration and its policies that are “hell-bent on destroying our economy and moving our nation toward socialism.”
JOE MANCHIN GETS A GOP CHALLENGER FOR HIS WEST VIRGINIA SENATE SEAT
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey smiles during a rally with then-President Donald Trump in Charleston, West Virginia, U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018.
(Maddie McGarvey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We have won some of the most important fights against Biden out of the AG’s office,” he added. “But now, with the midterms behind us, Republicans are going to need to take bold steps to move America out of the wilderness and back to our core constitutional roots.”
Morrisey, who was defeated by Manchin in the state’s 2018 Senate election by less than 20,000 votes, told Fox News Digital in August that it was “too early” to make decisions about 2024, but didn’t rule out another Senate run.
“We have a very deep record, as strong as any potential candidate in the nation for either the U.S. Senate or for Governor. I have been asked to consider running for these two positions, as well as the U.S. House in the northern part of the state or stand for re-election as Attorney General,” Morrisey explained in the letter. “I want to give all of these options appropriate and due consideration. But rest assured, I know how important it is to be strong, especially when it comes to taking on a tough incumbent.”
Morrisey also touted that “between allied forces and my accounts, over $3 million in resources are amassed for supporting Patrick Morrisey for an office we choose to run for.”
“No one else in the state even has $1 million in their warchest,” he wrote.
PROGRESSIVE GROUP PREEMPTIVELY BLAMES MANCHIN FOR LIKELY DEMOCRATIC LOSSES IN MIDTERMS
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has faced criticism within his party as a swing vote in the 50-50 Senate during the last two years.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Morrisey vowed to win a primary challenge in 2024 and asked his supporters to “Keep the Faith and hold off pledging your support to any other candidate who may be making noise about one of the key races up in 2024.”
“We are coming and when we do, we will have a force that West Virginia has not seen in an election in many years,” he added.
The letter from Morrisey came the same day West Virginia GOP Rep. Alex Mooney announced he will run as a Republican in the state’s 2024 election against Manchin.
“West Virginia values are at risk in this country. We’re bankrupting America. I want to be a part of the solution there,” Mooney said in a radio interview on MetroNews Talkline on Tuesday morning.
Rep. Alex Mooney announced Tuesday that he will run as a Republican in the state’s 2024 election to unseat Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
“It’s been talked about a lot, but I’m going to announce. I’m announcing it right now that I’m running for the U.S. Senate,” Mooney said. “I’m all in.”
Manchin faced his toughest challenge in 2018 when he won by only three percent, and could face a tight challenge from GOP candidates as West Virginia grows increasingly Republican. Manchin, who is viewed as a moderate Democrat and pushed back against several proposals from the Biden administration, has faced criticism within his party as a swing vote in the 50-50 Senate during the last two years.
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Manchin drew national attention when he announced his opposition to Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which needed his vote to pass in the Senate. He continued negotiations with the White House as the bill evolved into the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed thanks to his vote.
Fox News’ Patrick Hauf contributed to this article.
