• About Us
  • Write For Us
  • Advertising
  • Support
  • Contact Us
March 30, 2023 6:50 pm CDT
LISTEN LIVE:
No Result
View All Result
Heartland Newsfeed
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Illinois
    • Local
      • Capital Area
      • East Central Illinois
      • West Central Illinois
    • Regional
      • Chicagoland
      • Metro-East
      • Northern Illinois
      • Quad Cities
      • Southern Illinois
    • Obits
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Road Conditions
      • Illinois
    • Weather Closings
      • Central Illinois
  • Missouri
    • Regional
      • Northeastern Missouri
      • East Central Missouri
      • St. Louis Metro
      • Southeast Missouri
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Weather Closings
      • Greater STL Metro (IL/MO)
    • Road Conditions
      • Missouri
  • Weather
  • National
  • World
  • Sports
    • Basketball
      • NBA
    • Bowling
    • Boxing
    • Football
      • Arena Football
      • CFL
      • NFL
      • XFL
      • USFL
    • Golf
      • PGA
    • Hockey
      • NAHL
      • NHL
    • MLB
      • MiLB
    • MMA
      • UFC
    • NCAA
      • Basketball
      • Football
    • Olympics
    • Preps
    • Racing
      • Horse Racing
      • NASCAR
    • Soccer/Futbol
      • Bundesliga
      • Champions League
      • FIFA
      • La Liga
      • MLS
      • NWSL
      • Premier League
      • U.S. National Soccer
      • USL
      • USL Championship
    • Tennis
    • Wrestling
      • AEW
      • Independents
      • MLW
      • NJPW
      • NWA
      • ROH
      • WWE
  • Entertainment
    • Crossword
    • News Quiz
  • Opinion
    • Letters To The Editor
    • Editorial
    • Columnists
  • Radio
    • Affiliates
    • Live Video
      • HLNF Live
      • RTMP Direct
    • Network Schedule
    • Network Streams
    • Podcasts
      • Radio Network
      • Podcast Network
  • Features
    • Classifieds
      • Current Ads
      • Job Board
        • Job Listings
        • J2CTalroo
        • Post a Job
        • Receive Alerts
        • ZipSearch
    • Community Calendar
    • News Feeds
      • Statehouse
      • Legislative
      • Breaking News
  • Store
  • Deals
  • Calendar

No products in the cart.

Heartland Newsfeed
No Result
View All Result

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice ditches Democrats, joins Republicans

United Press International by United Press International
August 3, 2017 - Updated on August 5, 2017
in National, Politics
Reading Time: 2 mins read
Donate
0

CHARLESTON, W.V. (UPI) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced he will switch parties, leaving the Democrats and joining the Republicans.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice speaks on the steps of the state Capitol on March 21. Although he ran as a Democrat before winning the governorship in November, Justice announced Aug. 3 that he would be switching to the Republican Party. (Photo by Governor Jim Justice/Flickr)

“The Democrats walked away from me,” Justice said at a rally in Huntington with President Donald Trump in attendance.

“Today I will tell you, with lots of prayers and lots of thinking, I can’t help you anymore being a Democrat governor. So tomorrow I will be changing my registration to Republican.”

Speaking at the rally, Trump said Justice’s switch was proof that his agenda “rises above left or right.”

“It’s an agenda for all of the people, especially for the tens of millions of forgotten Americans. They’re not so forgotten anymore,” he said.

Justice, a billionaire who made his fortune from his family’s massive farming operations, as well as through coal and real estate, ran for governor in 2016 as a conservative Democrat who refused to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The strategy helped him beat his Republican opponent, Bill Cole by 7% of the vote.

Given his conservative streak, prolific support for the coal industry he invests in and personal relationship with the president’s family — he has been on hunting trips with Trump’s sons and considers the Trumps to be personal friends — Justice’s step into the GOP aisle is not necessarily indicative of a leap in terms of political ideology. But Democrats were still taken aback by the announcement.

“We are sitting here in our office, everyone of us that is capable of standing on two feet, looking at each other saying, ‘oh my goodness, did anybody see this coming?” Steve Roberts, a Democrat and president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce who has worked for Justice in the past, said.

Roberts added: “I am surprised. However, when I worked with Gov. Justice during the last session of the legislature, I could plainly see that he is a pragmatist who is trying to get things done and is not driven by ideological or party loyalty. And he has a close connection to the Trump family and it is my hope that this will further solidify a national attention in favor of policies that will help economic development, job creation and education in West Virginia.”

The Democratic Governors Association blasted the move.

“Jim Justice deceived the state of West Virginia when he ran as a Democrat eight months ago,” DGA Executive Director Elizabeth Pearson wrote in a statement. “West Virginians have learned that they simply can’t trust Jim Justice. He will always put his financial interests above the needs of West Virginians.”

With Justice’s departure, the DGA now have only 15 sitting Democrat governors throughout the country.

Written by UPI Writer Ray Downs

United Press International
+ posts

United Press International is an international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the 20th century.

  • United Press International
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/upi/
    Coinbase to lay off more than 900 employees
  • United Press International
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/upi/
    At least 10 injured in Iowa soybean plant explosion
  • United Press International
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/upi/
    Mike Braun files to run for Indiana governor
  • United Press International
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/upi/
    Samsung announces disappointing 3Q results

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Telegram
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: DemocraticsDitchesGov.joinsJusticeRepublicansVirginiaWest
Share196Tweet123Share5Send

Discussion about this post

📻 ON AIR NOW

.
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Five things you should know before purchasing auto insurance

    614 shares
    Share 246 Tweet 154
  • Nokomis council passes dumpster ordinance

    543 shares
    Share 217 Tweet 136
  • Illinois to see two gas hikes in 2023

    538 shares
    Share 215 Tweet 135
  • Viola Armstrong, 92, Pana

    531 shares
    Share 212 Tweet 133
  • Leto Voudrie, 83, Moweaqua

    529 shares
    Share 212 Tweet 132

HOURS AND INFO

800 Capps Ave.
Nokomis, IL 62075-1415
admin@heartlandnewsfeed.com
Online all the time 
Office Hours: 8 AM to 8 PM
Newsroom: (217) 569-4230
Listen Line:
(217) 569-4230 ext. 1
Advertising:
(217) 718-5281
After-Hours:
(217) 565-9709 / (217) 565-9273

Sitemap | Published Press | Privacy Policy
Staff Email | Independent Media

LIVE WEBSITE VIEWERS

.
ADVERTISEMENT

DEADLINES

Daily: 11 p.m. Central
Weekend: 11 p.m. Central
Sports: 11 p.m. Central

Upcoming deadlines
NYE/NYD: December 30, 5 p.m. Central

WEBRINGS

Hotline Webring: Previous — Next

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • World
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Health
    • Travel

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

00:00
00:00
WP Radio
WP Radio
OFFLINE LIVE
%d bloggers like this: