The three Democrats running for governor of West Virginia — (from left) Booth Goodwin, Jim Justice and Jeff Kessler — sharpened their attacks on each other as early voting began this week and the May 10 primary election nears.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A new round of negative ads in West Virginia governor’s race has sharpened the Democratic candidates’ attacks, with state Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler accusing businessman Jim Justice of running as a Republican and former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin issuing a statement whose headline screams “Justice is lying again.”
Justice released two negative ads this week, one calling Kessler and Goodwin two “insiders who think more government is the answer” and “want to raise taxes.”
Another attacks Goodwin specifically, as “another career politician,” and accusing him of taking contributions from lawyers with cases before his father, a federal judge.
The three men are fighting for the Democratic nomination for governor.
“When a candidate starts going negative, that tells me they’re in a freefall,” said Kessler, who is unabashed in his calls to raise taxes to fill the gaping hole in the state budget. “You can’t solve this budget problem without some additional revenue, so he’s been bashing me for saying I want to raise taxes, yet here’s a guy who’s not paying his own taxes…