Patrick Morrisey talks goals for West Virginia if he becomes governor

MILWAUKEE (WBOY) — While at the Republican National Convention , frontrunner for West Virginia governor and current Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) summarized some of his goals for the next four years, if he wins during the general election in November.

“We have a lot of work to do to lift up our standard of living in West Virginia, to drive educational attainment,” Morrisey said during an interview with WBOY’s parent company Nexstar.

Morrisey hit on three main topics: Economics, workplace participation and fentanyl.

He said that if elected, he wants to reverse the negative effects of “ Bidenomics ” on West Virginians. West Virginia was one of the few states with a budget surplus for the fiscal year , and Morrisey said that he wants to use part of that surplus to give West Virginians additional tax breaks, particularly by removing the income tax.

Current Governor Jim Justice (R) has already passed and begun implementing some of the biggest income tax breaks in state history, including a 21.25% personal income tax cut last year and another 4% personal income tax reduction scheduled to start on Jan. 1, 2025 .

“We need to have a Backyard Brawl with every state that we touch economically,” Morrisey said to a somewhat confused out-of-state interviewer. Referencing the annual matchups between West Virginia University and Pitt, Morrisey explained:

“Imagine it’s gameday—football game, basketball game—people take off half the day, maybe more to be able to watch the big game, and people want to beat Pitt. Well, from an economic perspective, I want to beat all the states that we touch. I’m not satisfied to be 47th or 48th ranking in the country. I want West Virginia to rise.”

Morrisey said he expects to see organic growth from personal tax cuts, but another part of winning that economic “Backyard Brawl” is being more marketable than neighboring states. He said he plans to use some of that surplus to remove barriers for businesses to move to the state, offer tax incentives and “promote freedom.”

He also said he plans to do checks and audits on the state executive branch.

Morrisey also brought up West Virginia’s opioid problem and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that has emerged in the past few years, specifically. Morrisey said he plans to classify fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction, a move he has called for as attorney general for several years .

“We can’t have another generation falling prey to senseless death,” Morrisey said during the interview.

However, some researchers, including some at WVU, have asked that fentanyl not be classified in a way that would restrict research, such as being labeled under a temporary scheduling order (TSO) like it was in the past or as schedule 1, which would deem it to have no medical use.

For live updates on day 3 of the RNC, click here .

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