Free Republic

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Companies owned by Gov. Jim Justice and his family are being sued in federal court in Kentucky, accused of fraudulently transferring property to avoid responsibilities in a business deal that was the subject of a related lawsuit a few years ago. The lawsuit wants punitive damages of at least $16.9 million. “This agreement was an unlawful and corrupt agreement by the conspirators to accomplish an unlawful goal of fraudulently transferring or liquidating valuable real estate belonging to Justice Companies, so that plaintiffs could not collect on debts owed to them by Justice companies,” the lawsuit alleges. The...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Supreme Court has overruled a lower court injunction that blocked West Virginia’s right-to-work law, chastising a circuit judge for the pace of decision-making and for issuing the injunction in the first place. The state’s unions failed to establish the likelihood of success based on the merits of three constitutional claims, wrote Justice Menis Ketchum in the court’s majority opinion. The state AFL-CIO issued a statement noting that the Supreme Court ruling applied specifically to the injunction, saying unions will continue to fight during a broader hearing in circuit court and anticipating an eventual appeal of...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s possible there could be additional delays before a decision is made on the constitutionality of the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act following an hour of oral arguments Tuesday before the state Supreme Court. Justice Margaret Workman questioned the decision by the office of state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to bring the right-to-work law to the Supreme Court before there’s been a full hearing on the merits of the case in circuit court. “I just think you all are taking a shortcut coming up here wanting all of the answers without the lower court having made any...

It’s a remarkable quirk of our federal republic that U.S. policy often hinges on local races. Regional personalities and issues, emerging from places coastal elites have never visited, will play a significant role in next year’s midterm elections—most crucially, the battle for the U.S. Senate. At stake is not just which party controls the upper chamber—the rough number of blues versus reds—but how faithful senators will be to their governing philosophies. As the dust settles from 2018, will Washington be more conservative? More liberal? More functional? Local politics will determine many of these answers. In tiny Harpers Ferry, West Virginia,...

There are new Senate ratings in five states. Updated bottom lines for these races are below. Our full ratings chart can be found here. 

As bad as things are for the GOP right now, remember that it’s even worse for Democrats. Case in point, the Cook Political Report just moved 4 2018 Senate races in the GOP’s direction:

President Trump had it right when, during his press conference on infrastructure he addressed the nonstop questions on Charlottesville, he asked if those obsessed with fears of white nationalism if they would also remove statues and monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, both slaveowners, in addition to the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The alt-left movement, which shares the blame along with arguably racist groups such as Black Lives Matter and Antifa, hate America so much that they want to erase all vestiges of American history and throw them down an Orwellian memory hole to be supplanted...

White House and Republican officials are looking at Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as a candidate to take the top spot at the Energy Department, as a plan is being looked at moving Secretary Rick Perry to lead the Homeland Security Department.

In no uncertain terms, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he isn't going to toe the party line on every policy issue, just because he's up for re-election. "I don't give a sh*t, you understand? I just don't give a sh*t," he told the Charleston Gazette-Mail Sunday. "Don't care if I get elected, don't care if I get defeated, how about that. If they think because I'm up for election, that I can be wrangled into voting for sh*t that I don't like and can't explain, they're all crazy." He continued: "I'm not scared of an election, let's put it that...

Longtime liberal pollster Stuart Rothenberg apparently had a hard time handling President Donald Trump's visit to West Virginia on Thursday. During that visit, Mountain State Governor Jim Justice officially announced his switch to the Republican Party, thereby consolidating full GOP control over the executive and legislative branches in that state, and bringing the total number of Republican U.S. governors to 35.

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. — While it is highly unusual for a sitting governor to change political parties while in office — as West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (D) announced he would do during a rally with President Trump on Thursday night — the process of crossing over was familiar to many in the crowd that night. Kimberly Barrington, a 46-year-old stay-at-home mother of two from Virginia’s rural Wise County, voted for Democrats for years, including former president Barack Obama ahead of his first term — but as she watched him and the Democratic Party drift away from her values and...

RUSH: I told you it was gonna be this way, and now we’ve got the evidence. I told you. People came in here today, “Man, wasn’t Trump great? Wasn’t Trump great last night? Did you see that crowd in West Virginia?” I said, “Yeah.” “You don’t think that’s gonna make the people in D.C. stop and take notice?” I said, “Are you kidding me? That’s gonna make them hate him even more.” And I have the evidence to back that up. JOHNNY DONOVAN: And now, from sunny south Florida, it’s Open Line Friday! RUSH: Open Line Friday. Getaway day here...

West Virginia governor Jim Justice announced Thursday that he is switching his party registration to Republican, but ABC and NBC ignored the major news. Justice’s announcement was teased throughout the day and ultimately came true during a Trump rally in Huntington, West Virginia. “Today, I will tell you, with lots of prayers and lots of thinking, today I tell you as West Virginians, I can’t help you anymore being a Democrat governor,” Justice said. “So tomorrow, I will be changing my registration to Republican.” Not only is it incredibly rare for a sitting governor to change their party affiliation, but...

Early Thursday morning, President Trump teased a big announcement that would be made at his campaign rally in West Virginia later in the day. Like many things in Washington lately, the announcement leaked early and it was one liberals couldn’t stand: Jim Justice, the governor of the state, was changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. It’s rare for sitting governors to change their party affiliation, but that didn’t matter to ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News who ignored the news altogether. CBS was the only network in the Big Three to give the story any time....

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Bragging about keeping his promises on immigration, the economy, the environment and crime, President Trump celebrated on Thursday with a raucous West Virginia crowd as the state’s Democratic governor announced that he will switch to the Republican Party. With Gov. Jim Justice by his side, Mr. Trump hailed stock market records and the growth of coal income in West Virginia. And he delivered a lengthy critique of the federal investigations of his campaign’s ties to Russia, calling the matter “a fake story that is demeaning to all of us.”

West Virginia's Democratic Gov. Jim Justice will announce he is switching parties at a rally with President Trump on Thursday. Justice, a coal magnate and the wealthiest man in the state, first won office last year.

See you tonight Huntington, West Virginia! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain🇺🇸 Tickets: http://www.DonaldJ.Trump.com SEE YOU TONIGHT AT 7:00pmE - HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA! I will be heading to Huntington, West Virginia tonight! Enjoy a THROWBACK THURSDAY

President Trump will return to West Virginia next week for a campaign-style rally, his re-election campaign announced Friday. The event will be held at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia, on Thursday. Trump has attended a number of campaign-style rallies so far this year, speaking to supporters in Florida, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and, most recently Ohio. The president and first lady Melania Trump appeared at the Make America Great Again Rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Tuesday.

It looks like Planned Parenthood won't be defunded and Obamacare won't be repealed thanks to three Republican senators. Republicans failed to rally enough senators to vote for the Better Care Reconciliation Act, which would repeal and replace Obamacare. Then, Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, announced the Senate would instead only vote on repealing the pro-abortion healthcare law. The bill repealing Obamacare would also defund Planned Parenthood for one year. Three Republican senators, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine, have all said they'd vote against the bill. This means McConnell doesn't...

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said on Tuesday she cannot support a bill to repeal Obamacare without a replacement, even though she voted to repeal Obamacare in 2015. Repealing Obamacare would fulfill a seven-year long promise Republicans made to the American people. Sen. Capito said in a statement, “My position on this issue is driven by its impact on West Virginians. With that in mind, I cannot vote to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan that addresses my concerns and the needs of West Virginians.”