CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice appointed his wife to the state school board about a day after a decisive victory in a U.S. Senate race against his Democratic opponent.

The 73-year-old Republican governor announced First Lady Cathy Justice’s appointment to the West Virginia State Board of Education during a press briefing on Thursday, after submitting a letter notifying the Secretary of State’s office Wednesday.

“She’ll do an amazing job,” Justice said. “And really, truly, Cathy loves kids beyond good sense.”

Cathy Justice, 71, will serve a nine-year term on the board, taking over the seat of Dr. Daniel Snavely, a Huntington cardiologist whose term expired this week. Justice said his wife wasn’t initially sure about the position but that after some convincing, “she’s fired up now and ready to go and do the job.”

When asked by a reporter about whether nepotism played a role in the appointment, Justice insisted Cathy Justice is more than qualified.

“How could you possibly think that Cathy is not just covered up with qualifications?” he asked.

Justice cited the work of his wife, who earned a degree in secondary education at Marshall University, within the state’s Communities In Schools program. As first lady, Cathy Justice helped the nonprofit school dropout prevention program launch in 2018 and expand to 285 schools in all of the state’s 55 counties.

According to the governor’s office, West Virginia is the only state in the nation to have the program operating in every county.

Cathy Justice also spearheaded the Friends With Paws program, which puts certified therapy dogs in schools to provide comfort and companionship to students. More than 40 such dogs have been placed throughout the state.

“There’s no way that I could find someone — no matter where they are — that’s more qualified than Cathy Justice for this job,” Justice told reporters.

Cathy Justice has taught as a substitute teacher in Raleigh County schools and is involved in a elementary school program affiliated with a local church. She previously served as president of Comer Electric, Inc., a business started by her father and mother. She also served on the board of directors for First National Bank in Ronceverte for five years.

In 2007, former Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin — whose seat Justice is taking over in the Senate — appointed his wife Gayle Manchin to the state school board. Gayle Manchin, a former Marion County public school teacher, was later elected the board’s president for a two-year term.

In January, Justice will be going to Washington, D.C., to start a six-year term as a U.S. senator after easily besting Democrat Glenn Elliott.

A businessman whose family owns dozens of companies and the historic resort The Greenbrier, Justice has in the past donated his $150,000 a year salary as governor to the Communities In Schools program.

West Virginia starting quarterback Garrett Greene is doubtful to play against Cincinnati which means that redshirt sophomore Nicco Marchiol would draw yet another start.

Marchiol played well in the road win at Arizona completing 18-22 passes for 198 yards with 2 touchdowns and zero turnovers which didn’t come as a surprise to his teammates.

Sophomore wide receiver Traylon Ray hauled in a pair of catches for 78 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown against the Wildcats, and expressed complete confidence in either of the signal callers. Marchiol is a little bit bigger than Greene and is a lefty which makes things a little different, but the chemistry is there with either.

“We’ve worked with both of them for so long and so much so there’s not really much of a difference for me and our receivers,” Ray said. “You see No. 6 back there, as a receiver, your job’s to go and catch it. You see No. 8 back there, got the same job.”

This stems back to when Marchiol first arrived in the program and the focus has been to develop a connection with him on top of what was already in place with Greene. So anytime that the Mountaineers were throwing with Greene, they also did the same with Marchiol.

“We knew if we put No. 8 in he’s going to be able to make the same throws Garrett makes. He’s going to be able to get out of the pocket like Garrett does because Nicco’s a pretty big guy,” Ray said. “So, it was relief just because, yeah, we don’t want to see No. 6 go down. But at the same time, we know No. 8 can back them up.”

Throughout his time with the program, Marchiol has shown a knack for making throws in the quick game such as slant routes and working off run-pass-options, which works well with Ray’s overall skill set.

But he also was the target on a deep ball and Ray also hasn’t noticed a major difference in that aspect between the two signal callers either. That was on display against the Wildcats and is something that Marchiol is going to need to continue to improve if he is called upon against the Bearcats.

“Both of them have amazing arms, strong arms,” he said.

Teams have continued to play man coverage against the Mountaineers and Ray has prided himself on being able to get off that and create separation which wasn’t always the case last year. A big reason for that hasn’t been when it comes to getting off the line, but instead having the strength when in phase to absorb contact.

“But now, I got a little bit more muscle on me, got a little bit more weight on me. So, once I get down the field, I can just get them off of me and then use my speed to just create more separation,” Ray said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (WSAZ) – In his victory speech in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Republican Attorney General and governor-elect Patrick Morrisey said Tuesday night was a time to celebrate, and Wednesday was time to get back to work.

“I’m getting ready for a pretty busy stretch,” he told WSAZ.

Morrisey defeated Democratic Huntington Mayor Steve Williams in the gubernatorial race.

When asked how he’ll be spending the next couple of months leading up to the inauguration as he closes out his last term as AG, Morrisey said, “I want to make sure there’s a good transition for the auditor who will be coming in. Congratulations to JB McCuskey. We’re going to help him out and finish out our AG work. Then we’ll have a transition. The beautiful part about that is everyone will have a chance to participate. We’re going to come up with a website where people can submit ideas and resumes and weigh in.”

He says on Day One of his administration, a priority will be starting an economic competition with states West Virginia touches.

“We’ll be rolling out a pretty aggressive series of announcements on regulations and policies that affect state government,” he said. “We’re analyzing which pieces can be done directly by the governor and which will require legislative approval.”

Morrisey, who’s 56, moved to the Eastern Panhandle from New Jersey in 2006.

He says his victory is a signal that people in counties who’ve felt left out of the decision-making process will have a voice.

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