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CHARLESTON -- Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is expanding his lead over other GOP precandidates for governor of West Virginia, but other opponents are going up in the polls as well.
Black Bear PAC, a political action committee with ties to Morrisey and funded in part by conservative advocacy organization Club for Growth, paid for a poll conducted by WPA Intelligence between Nov. 27 and Nov. 29 with 507 likely Republican primary voters via live phone interviews. The poll has a margin of error of 4.4%.
According to the poll, 39% of respondents said they would support Morrisey in the May 14 Republican primary for governor, with 23% supporting House Judiciary Committee Chairman Moore Capito, 14% supporting Secretary of State Mac Warner, 10% supporting Huntington businessman Chris Miller, and 14% undecided.
"As voters are just starting to pay attention to the race, they know that Patrick Morrisey is the conservative candidate who has delivered for them time after time," said Taylor Van Kirk, communications director for the Morrisey campaign. "Of course he is going to be the Republican nominee for governor. Especially with his America First bonafides as the first candidate in the race to support Donald Trump for President in 2024. Trump in the White House plus Morrisey in the Governor's office equals results for West Virginians."
According to a Dec. 1 polling memo from WPAi partner Byron Allen, Morrisey's support has shown improvement over a more than one month period since another poll from a group backing Morrisey came out. But a comparison of the polls shows all top candidates moving up in support.
According to a poll released in October by the West Virginia chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative grassroots organizing organization, 29% of respondents said they would vote for Morrisey, with 18% supporting Capito, 8% supporting Warner, 6% supporting Miller, 1% supporting Martinsburg resident Rashida Yost, 18% saying they would support another candidate, 19% undecided or unsure, a 1% refusing to answer.
A source close to the poll who declined to be identified said Tuesday that the timeline between the two polls coincides with a period where direct-mail pieces went sent promoting Morrisey, so the poll is a sign that those messaging efforts in favor of Morrisey were successful.
Black Bear PAC was founded in 2012 to support Morrisey's first successful campaign for attorney general of West Virginia. Scott Will, a former campaign manager for Morrisey attorney general races and a former executive director for the Republican Attorney General's Association, is a senior adviser to Black Bear PAC.
Both the Club for Growth PAC and Black Bear PAC endorsed Morrisey in April for the Republican nomination for governor of West Virginia to succeed the term-limited Gov. Jim Justice, who is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2024. Both PACs had already raised $5 million to support Morrisey with a goal to spend more than $10 million.
Black Bear PAC has $3.8 million in cash on hand going into the remainder of 2023, according to a mid-year report filed July 31 with the Federal Election Commission covering the period between January and June. Political action committees are only required to file FEC campaign finance reports semi-annually during non-election years.
During the six-month period, Black Bear PAC raised more than $2.1 million, with nearly all of that from a $2.1 million donation in March from Club for Growth Action, the super PAC affiliated with the Club for Growth.
Morrisey, who supports former president Donald Trump for president in 2024, has been criticized for receiving support from the Club for Growth, which is actively campaigning against Trump in early primary states. Americans for Prosperity announced last week that it was supporting former South Carolina governor and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley for president over Trump.
"The Never Trump Inc. financiers who bankrolled this poll recently spent nearly $10 million dollars to attack President Trump, attack Governor Justice, and attack Moore Capito," said Kent Gates, spokesperson for the Moore Capito campaign. "Never Trump Inc. attacked these leading West Virginia conservatives because they prefer politicians like Patrick Morrisey, the former Big Pharma lobbyist who they want to be their 'Yes Man.'"