Here comes the (political) money

West Virginia is about to get a record amount of outside investment and in-state fundraising…in political money.

Photo from Governor Jim Justices From right to left (per gov’t website:) Secretary of State Mac Warner, Ag. Commissioner Kent Leonhardt, A.G. Patrick Morrisey, Governor Jim Justice, treasurer John Perdue, auditor JB McCuskey, superintendent of schools Steve Paine. Morrisey, Warner, and McCuskey are running for Governor as Jim Justice runs for US Senate in 2024. Courtesy photo/Governor’s Office

Normally when a big investor or company announces a plan to pour millions of investment dollars into the State of West Virginia it is accompanied by fanfare and headlines. Usually there is much talk of how wonderful this influx of money is, and how it will change X number of lives in Y location, rejoined with a dazzling list of numbers and great things to be expected.

The biggest of big announcements even get a dog and pony show; the time-honored public relations extravaganza that includes the investor and officials like the governor, or a US senator, who all try their best to take all the credit in one hand while shaking hands with the other, while words of cooperation and excitement slide past too-wide smiles and public political joy. The public playacting to present a united front from the backstage politicking and all the hurt feelings and manipulated ambitions involved therein.

The dog and pony show is up front, of course, just in case the X number of lives changed in Y location turns out to be less than advertised, or worse, never actually comes to fruition.

That’s what normally happens when you’ve pledged to dump seven-figured sums of money into the Mountain State. But since folks like David McIntosh are investing that money in choosing a governor and US Senator for West Virginia, they don’t do the dog and pony show up front. That’s for later.

McIntosh, for the uninitiated, is the head of the Club for Growth, the powerful and well-funded conservative political group so influential that just using “The Club” to GOP officeholders and seekers is enough to convey meaning. The Club funneled north of $150M through its various auspices into the 2022 midterms, and are positioning themselves to exert even more influence going forward. The Club’s growth in influence and fundraising has led to multiple suitors colliding over the same pool of donors and candidates running for a set number of offices, and brewing GOP infighting.

Infighting over influence and fundraising that is going to spill massive amounts of both into West Virginia. The Club has already sent…