Sen. Justice, mulling WV governor run, will soon be in Senate minority caucus after election results

Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., wasn’t on the ballot this election, but the blue tsunami that blew out midterm elections will put him in the minority party in the Senate.

Democrats ousted Republicans and seized control of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday night.

Republicans’ nearly two-year control of the federal government since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House will come to an end in January when the 120th Congress gavels in.

Justice, a friend and ally of Trump, said Tuesday was “a tough night for Republicans.”

“We lost some really good senators whom I’ve gotten to know and think the world of over the last two years,” Justice told West Virginia Watch in a statement. “Since the day I came to Washington, my goal has been to do what’s right for West Virginia and get things done for the American people.”

“Now, I have my conservative values, and I’m not going to back down from those, but I’ve always said that you can stand firm in what you believe and still be willing to reach across the aisle,” he continued. “At the end of the day, the voters sent us here to deliver results, and that ought to be our number one priority, regardless of which party we belong to.”

Justice, who is in his first term in the U.S. Senate, has already floated the idea of running again for West Virginia governor, likely challenging Gov. Patrick Morrisey for the GOP nomination.

The decision could come after the midterm elections, Justice said. 

Justice was an ultra-popular governor in West Virginia from 2017 to 2025.

Recent tax liens and financial troubles at The Greenbrier resort, now only partially owned by the Justice family, haven’t really dulled his popularity in the Mountain State. 

Justice, 75, has served in the U.S. Senate since 2025. 

Trump recently signed Justice’s bill, the “Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act,” into law. It’s the first piece of legislation by Justice to clear Trump’s desk. 

Republicans currently control a six-seat majority of 53 seats in the Senate, while Democrats hold 47.

Thirty-three of the 100 U.S. Senate seats were up for election on Tuesday night.

The stunning Senate upset on Election Day included states that Trump had won by double digits in 2024, signaling voters’ stroke rebuke to the president’s policies. 

Incumbent Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., won her reelection bid on Tuesday, and will begin her third term in the Senate in 2027.

She is currently fourth in the Senate Republican majority leadership while the GOP has control of the Upper Chamber. 

Justice attended Capito’s election night watch party in Charleston, remarking on their teamwork and work in Washington, D.C.