West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey will run for governor in the deep red state.
“Today, I come before you with a very clear purpose: I am seeking the Republican nomination for governor of West Virginia,” Morrisey said as he made the announcement on Tuesday.
West Virginia’s current governor, Jim Justice, a Republican, is seen as a likely potential contender to run against centrist Democrat Joe Manchin in the 2024 Senate race. Manchin is up for reelection to the US Senate in 2024, but he has not yet said if he plans to run.
Morrisey won the Republican Senate primary for the 2018 midterms, but lost to Manchin in the general election. He has served as West Virginia’s attorney general since 2013.
Manchin has been a fixture of West Virginia politics for years, but he would be a top target for Republicans if he runs again in the state where voters turned out strongly in support of former President Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
The Democratic Party once held major sway in the state, but its standing has drastically eroded over the years. Justice, for example, ran for governor as a Democrat in 2016 and switched parties the next year.
CNN’s Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.