West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who was elected last year as a Democrat, announced Thursday that he will change political parties and ...
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who was elected last year as a Democrat, announced Thursday that he will change political parties and become a Republican.
"Let me just say this to you as bluntly as I can say it, West Virginia. At the altar when we had it done, like it or not like it, but the Democrats walked away from me," Justice said during a rally with President Trump in Huntington, W.V.
"Now today I would tell you with lots of prayers and lots of thinking, today I tell you as West Virginians, I can't help you any more being a Democrat governor," he continued. "So tomorrow I will be changing my registration to Republican."
Justice ran as a Democrat in the state's 2016 gubernatorial race, but never backed the party's presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.
Trump won West Virginia in the presidential election by 42 points - his largest margin of victory over Clinton in any state.
