Pro-Capito group releases poll showing Capito in lead (2024)

Former delegate and GOP candidate for governor Moore Capito attends an event Thursday with Gov. Jim Justice and the West Virginia Coal Association at West Virginia Independence Hall. (Photo courtsey of the West Virginia Governor's Office)

CHARLESTON — For the first time this year and the second time since entering the Republican race for governor, new polling shows former House Judiciary Committee Chairman Moore Capito leading Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

The Coalition for West Virginia’s Future, a pro-Capito group, released a poll Friday on the GOP race for governor. The poll was conducted by NMB Research between April 20-22 using both landline and cell phones. Respondents were screened for Republican registration and if they were likely to vote in the May 14 primary. The poll’s margin of error is 4.38%.

According to the poll, 31% of respondents said they supported Capito for governor, followed by 23% for Morrisey, 14% for Huntington businessman Chris Miller, 13% for Secretary of State Mac Warner and 18% undecided.

The poll was conducted shortly after Gov. Jim Justice announced his endorsem*nt of Capito for governor on April 17. Capito and Justice have spent the last several days attending events in Wheeling and Bridgeport. According to a memorandum by Neil Newhouse with NMB Research, the poll also shows Capito’s momentum compared to the onslaught of negative ads being thrown between Morrisey and Miller.

“With three weeks to go before election day, this poll clearly shows that Moore Capito got a significant boost from Gov. Justice’s endorsem*nt and has taken a lead while his two major opponents have been running negative campaigns against one another,” Newhouse said. “While Capito has a current edge on the ballot, this race is fluid, as undecideds can tilt the race over the last few weeks of this campaign.”

Justice, the frontrunner in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, was endorsed by Capito’s mother, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., last April. According to the NMB Poll, 60% of respondents said they supported Justice, while 24% said they supported U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va.

Capito also released his second policy paper this week, focused on continued elimination of the personal income tax, regulatory reform, workforce training, tourism growth, using technology to propel the state economically and public safety and drug interdiction.

“To take West Virginia to the next level and keep the incredible momentum that we have … we need to make sure we have the safest communities in the country,” Capito said in a video message posted Thursday. “That means making sure that anybody that is on the streets of West Virginia pushing poison to our children and folks in our communities in the way of fentanyl needs to go to prison for life. Same thing for human traffickers.”

More than two weeks ago, Capito released his education public policy plan, focused on improving academic achievement and accountability in public schools, more input for parents in their children’s education, student safety, workforce skills training and increasing school choice options.

“Critical to our success is the education of our kids. As a father, I can tell you it is personal to me,” Capito said. “When I was in the Legislature, I was very proud to be a leader in promoting school choice and providing options for our kids so we can have better selection and more parental involvement. As I say all the time, the key to education is (that) parents come first in the decisions of their children.”

The Republican race for governor has been consistently between Capito and Morrisey, who has led in nearly every poll except last fall’s WV MetroNews West Virginia Poll, when 32% of respondents said they supported Capito, with 27% supporting Morrisey. In the latest West Virginia Poll released last week, 31% of respondents supported Morrisey and 29% supported Capito.

The focus of Morrisey and groups supporting him — such as Black Bear PAC and the Club for Growth — has been on Miller, who has used his independent wealth to run 14 TV ads since mid-January. Black Bear PAC and the Club for Growth ran ads attacking Miller for past stances on drug legalization and taking out federal Payroll Protection Plan loans for his businesses during COVID.

In response, Miller launched ads accusing Morrisey of past lobbying work for a New York hospital that performs gender reassignment surgeries and pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and distribute medication for gender-affirming care. Morrisey has denied these specific accusations.

“Patrick Morrisey has made powerful enemies defeating the swamp and fighting the woke left, so now the swamp is spending millions lying about Morrisey,” a narrator says on Morrisey’s most recent TV ad launched Thursday. “Like (former President Donald) Trump, Morrisey won’t back down.”

While Capito has taken jabs at Morrisey, most of his ads have focused on issues and introducing himself to voters.

According to the NMB poll, when asked whether what they had heard about the candidates gave them a more or less favorable impression, 43% said they had a more favorable impression of Capito, while only 28% said they had a more favorable impression of Morrisey and 25% said they had a more favorable impression of Miller.

Since Capito’s endorsem*nt by Justice, Black Bear PAC has shifted their focus to Capito, launching an ad this week showing Capito with a silver spoon in his mouth and accusing him of supporting increases in the state gas tax and DMV fees.

According to the NMB poll, 50% of GOP primary voters say that improving the state’s economy and creating jobs are one of their two top priorities. Of those voters who say the economy and job creation are the top priority, 36% support Capito, 19% support Morrisey, 14% support Miller, and 13% support Warner.

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com