CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey dominated the Eastern Panhandle counties in Tuesday’s Primary Election in which he won the GOP nomination for governor.

Morrisey outdistanced former state lawmaker Moore Capito by more than 10,000 votes in that area of the state.

MetroNews Decision 2024 vote analyst Greg Hunter said Capito needed to be stronger in Kanawha and surrounding counties to make up the difference but he wasn’t.

“Moore Capito did well in Kanawha County but really that whole sort of Kanawha Valley region, seven counties, he wasn’t as dominate as he needed to be,” Hunter said Wednesday.

The Capito campaign also needed to win what Hunter calls the neutral areas like Wood and Monongalia counties but the counties were even or Morrisey was the winner. Morrisey won 35 of 55 counties in the GOP race.

“You get one dominate region and a few hundred vote wins in several other counties and you end up with a 10,000 vote lead like Morrisey had,” Hunter said.

Morrisey received approximately 75,000 which represented about 34% of the GOP votes cast.

Morrisey on Talkline

Morrisey made an appearance Wednesday on MetroNews Talkline. He said a dozen years in office as state Attorney General was a solid springboard to victory.

“Over the last 12 years, we’ve been able to get a lot of terrific things done to help our state and help pave the way for West Virginia to be the shining state in the mountains,” Morrisey said. “I think the conservative values and the experience made a really big difference.”

Morrisey said his victory sends a message.

“I think the people of West Virginia spoke loud and clear that they are looking for changes. That they are looking for people who have a vision for putting West Virginia first, protecting our jobs and protecting us from all of the threats out there,” Morrisey said.

Advice for Williams

Former Charleston Mayor Danny Jones has some advice for his friend, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams and his upcoming race against Morrisey.

Jones said on “Talkline” Wednesday that if Williams is serious about the race he should step down from being mayor and be a full-time candidate.

“When you get up in the morning you think about being governor and you do it until you go to bed at night,” Jones said. “Steve hasn’t been out on the trail in a long time and he’s never been nothing but a nice guy.”

Jones said Williams is going to have to take the gloves off against Morrisey.

“He’s a good-looking tall man and he’s got to get out where people can see him,” Jones said.

Morrisey said he knows Williams and expects a campaign on the issues.

“I have respect for the Democrat nominee, we’ve worked together and he’s praised a lot of work we’ve done on the epidemic,” Morrisey said. “I think this will be spirited and focused on the issues.”