By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Democratic Huntington Mayor Steve Williams offered differing governing styles to members of the West Virginia business community Wednesday as they made their case to be the state’s next governor.
Morrisey and Williams addressed attendees of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting and Business Summit Wednesday afternoon at the Greenbrier Resort in separate speeches.
Morrisey, wrapping up his third four-year term as the state’s top attorney, told attendees that he wants to continue to build on the good work of Gov. Jim Justice and the West Virginia Legislature, but said there was more work to do in the future and he is the man to lead the state into that future.
“With the right policies, we have a chance to move up in the rankings in a way that you haven’t seen before,” Morrisey said. “The future is very bright for West Virginia, but we’re going to need to work together. … We are all on Team West Virginia now, and we have a chance to do some pretty amazing things together.”
As governor, Morrisey is planning to tackle reducing taxes, regulations and other hindrances to state economic growth. Morrisey wants to study neighboring states to see how West Virginia can be competitive and exceed bordering states to make West Virginia more attractive for investment.
“We want to have a backyard brawl economically with all the states that we touch,” Morrisey said. “We want to make sure that on questions related to taxes and regulations and workforce rules and licensing, that West Virginia is no longer going to be 48th, 49th, and 50th.”
Williams, who is in his third four-year term as mayor and a former member of the House of Delegates, focused on his accomplishments in turning around a near-bankrupt Huntington and working to reverse the city’s substance use disorder crisis. Williams said West Virginia needs to focus on competing economically on the world stage.
“Our competition is not our neighboring states. Our competition is the global marketplace,” Williams said. “We have the capacity to set the market on innovation and to set standards that the rest of the world would seek to follow. We must believe that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to.”
