ICYMI: Will Jim Justice be able to help fund his Senate bid amid financial woes? [Washington Examiner]

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Washington Examiner: Will Jim Justice be able to help fund his Senate bid amid financial woes? 
By Emily Jacobs 
October 7, 2023

Key Points: 

• Gov. Jim Justice’s (R-WV) latest financial disclosures reveal that his business empire is producing little to no liquid assets, raising questions about the former billionaire’s ability to financially contribute to his Senate campaign.
  
  
• Justice…has faced years of scrutiny over his well-documented financial and legal woes. The governor’s family business owns 147 companies, including coal mines, processing facilities, agricultural companies, and the landmark Greenbrier Resort in his home state.
  
  
• [Justice’s net worth] has since plummeted to somewhere between $400 million and $500 million, the result of scores of lawsuits and an accumulation of nearly $1 billion in debt.
  
  
• Justice stated in a personal financial disclosure in late September, submitted 134 days past the Senate Ethics Committee’s candidate filing deadline on the first day a fine would be imposed, that his assets were valued between $37.5 million and $1.9 billion.
  
  
• Despite this, Justice reported having between $34,006 and $161,001 in bank deposits across all personal, spousal, and joint bank accounts. He and his wife also reported only earning a combined income of between $24,609 and $72,000 from just nine of their 147 assets, according to the PFD. The Justices listed between $1,918,013 and $4,045,000 in real estate assets in the disclosure, including 13 residential and unimproved land units.
  
  
• The PFD also makes note of some of the governor’s significant debts, with $37.5 million to $108.1 million in liabilities reported.
  
  
• A spokesman for Justice’s Senate campaign did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the filing, which was submitted as the governor faces a costly primary fight ahead of what could be the most expensive race in Senate history.
  
  
• Speaking to reporters late last month, Justice acknowledged he had a liquidity issue but denied any notion of financial or business impropriety.
  
  
• Justice is currently facing Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) in the contest to be the GOP nominee in next year’s Senate race. Mooney, who launched his Senate bid late last year, has the backing of the well-funded Club for Growth. The group has spent months attacking Justice over his substantial debt and allegations of stiffing employees, creditors, and others in an attempt to boost Mooney’s candidacy.
  
  
• The primary contest will not be cheap for Justice… [Mooney] raised more than $13.5 million in the second quarter of this year through the Club and a separate super PAC.
  

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