As the elections get closer by the day and most eyes are put on the presidential race, the fate of the Senate is getting a significant amount attention given the uncertainty about which party will end up dominating the chamber during the next legislative cycle.
The GOP needs to take two seats from Democrats to change the balance of power, as they currently have a 51-49 majority. And the retirement of Democrat-turned-independent Joe Manchin from West Virginia means that Republicans are all but guaranteed to flip the seat in the ruby red state.
Jim Justice, the Republican governor of the state and senatorial candidate in the race, is ahead by vast margins in the few polls conducted in the state. Practically overlooked due to the certainty of the outcome, the two surveys pitting him against Democratic opponent Glenn Elliot.
Both of them show Justice with a more than 30-point lead. The first one, conducted on June 4 by Kaplan Strategies among 464 likely voters, has Justice with 60% of the support, compared to Elliot's 27%. The most recent one, by Research America, took place between August 21 and 27 among 400 registered voters. It showed Justice with 62% of the potential votes, while Elliot got 28%.
Perhaps the most salient feature of the race is a recent piece by POLITICO where local politicians say Justice is rarely seen at the state capitol and that it is uncertain whether he will commit to the commute between his home state and Washington D.C.
Republican West Virginia state Del. Elias Coop-Gonzalez told the outlet that, given that Senate margins will be narrow regardless of who wins, a lot of the votes are "going to really depend on him having to be there every single time," and "my personal opinion is I don't really have a lot of faith that he will be there for that."
Justice's campaign declined to respond to different requests from comments related to the concerns, including if Justice will maintain a residence in Washington D.C: during his tenure as senator.
"We decline to participate in this joke of a story and respond to your anonymous sources regarding the next United States Senator from West Virginia," said Justice spokesperson Roman Stauffer.
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