Weekly West Virginia “Battle Royale” Senate Primary Update

Ties to Saudi Arabia, unpaid taxes, attack ads: here’s what you might have missed this week in West Virginia’s “messy,” “costly,” and “bruising” GOP primary.

• Jim Justice said the the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tournament — which was held at Justice’s resort earlier this month — was a “great event” and reaffirmed his position that “Saudi Arabia is a great ally of the United States.” This comes after multiple outlets reported on how the event highlights Justice’s “controversial business ties to an authoritarian country,” and how he “cozies” up to and “directly profit[s]” off Saudi Arabia, “raising ethical concerns about … a conflict of interest” if elected to the U.S. Senate. 

• Alex Mooney leapt on new reports detailing Jim Justice and his coal companies  are facing $1.3 billion in fines for violating a deal to clean up oil spills and owe $124,000 in unpaid taxes. Mooney called Justice a “deadbeat,” and said “the only thing rising faster than the U.S. debt clock is the Jim Justice debt clock.” This is “only the most recent” in a “long history” of Jim Justice’s failure to meet his “financial and work safety obligations,” including public safety violations, unpaid fees and taxes, and millions of dollars in debt.

• “Jim Justice is drawing fire from the influential conservative group Club For Growth.” The group launched a new ad buy in West Virginia that “slams Jim Justice” for his ties to Mitch McConnell and “the Washington ‘swamp.’” This follows previous reporting that West Virginia is a “major front” in the multi-million dollar “looming proxy war” between national Republicans — who are backing Justice — and the Club for Growth — who endorsed Mooney and raised $13.55 million to support Mooney’s campaign.

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