西弗吉尼亚州查尔斯顿当西弗吉尼亚州共和党人在周二的初选中投票时，他们将很难在全州范围的竞选中找到一位公开承认这位总统的主要候选人乔·拜登赢得了2020年选举.
在对前总统最忠诚的州之一竞选州长和国会议员的共和党人中，接受或回避选举否定主义已经成为一种不言而喻的选择唐纳德·特朗普。人们几乎一直在称赞共和党从一系列候选人中可能获得白宫提名的候选人，其中包括1月6日被定罪的叛乱分子以及西弗吉尼亚州国会代表团两名共和党成员的儿子。
正在争取民主党提名竞选参议员席位的格伦·埃利奥特(Glenn Elliott)表示，否认选举结果是对西弗吉尼亚州共和党人的“纯度测试”。
“你要么在所有事情上都与党的领导人站在一起，要么被踢出去。你不再是共和党人了，你是‘RINO’，”他说，用的是“名存实亡的共和党人”的首字母缩写“那不是聚会——那是邪教。“
这是西弗吉尼亚州对共和党候选人最糟糕的称呼。
在拥挤的州长竞选中，国务卿迈克·华纳(Mac Warner)表示，他和特朗普一样“坚定”认为选举被窃取了，尽管数十家法院和审计机构已经认定竞选结果公平地有利于拜登。
华纳的办公室负责监督西弗吉尼亚州的选举。华纳曾表示，科技公司、媒体和联邦情报官员合作掩盖在拜登儿子亨特的笔记本电脑上发现的有罪信息。华纳的声明是在宣布竞选几个月后发表的，此前几年他一直在2020年大选中保持沉默。这位退伍军人说他的观点与竞选公职无关。
另一位州长候选人、前州议员摩尔·卡皮托在回答美联社记者提问时说:“唐纳德·特朗普以压倒性优势赢得了西弗吉尼亚州。”“我只是希望全国其他地方能像我们在西弗吉尼亚州一样进行选举。”
其他候选人回避或不直接回答。
司法部长帕特里克·莫里西(Patrick Morrisey)拒绝回答拜登是否赢得2020年大选的问题，但声称与此次投票有关的“巨大违规行为”、“重大违规行为”和“非常非常严重的问题”。
商人克里斯·米勒也是州长候选人，他是众议员卡罗尔·米勒的儿子。他说，人们不信任邮寄选票。他没有说他是否认为拜登是合法的获胜者。
“如果你亲自投票，看到自己的选票，那是一回事，”他说。他补充说，对于邮寄选票，“你看不到它。你不知道发生了什么，这就是危险所在。”
前州议员德里克·埃文斯(Derrick Evans)因参与2021年1月6日美国国会大厦骚乱而入狱三个月，他对主要竞争对手的言语攻击升级。他称卡罗尔·米勒是“拒绝与川普总统站在一起战斗”的“共产主义者RINO”，也是“非法的民主党人”
尽管米勒在任时几乎100%的众议院选票都与特朗普一致。
埃文斯在接受采访时说，他相信他愿意袖手旁观·特朗普并承认选举被窃取将使他赢得胜利——尽管米勒在埃文斯和其他暴徒冲进国会大厦几个小时后投票质疑拜登赢得的两个州的选举人团结果。
她当时在一份声明中表示，她有宪法义务“确保所有美国人都能参加自由、公平和准确的选举。”
埃文斯没有被吓倒，他声称自己在国会大厦暴力袭击中的作用是一种荣誉。
“我认为，当人们知道我是全国唯一一个有勇气站出来反对选举舞弊、有勇气在1月6日站在特朗普总统身边的当选议员时，”他说，“我认为这让他们非常认真地意识到，我是在国家舞台上代表这个地区的人。”
在给美联社的一封电子邮件中，卡罗尔·米勒没有直接谈到2020年的结果。但她说，她是竞选中唯一一位“从未注册过民主党人或以民主党人身份竞选公职”的候选人。
在西弗吉尼亚州州长竞选中，四位主要候选人都一致支持该州的煤炭行业，对芬太尼经销商实施更严厉的处罚，并强调经济发展的重要性。
筹款领跑者莫里西将“RINO”的标签抛给了被视为主要竞争对手的卡皮托。莫里西引用了小唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump Jr .)2024年2月在社交媒体上发表的一篇批评卡皮托的母亲、共和党参议员谢莉·摩尔·卡皮托(Shelley Moore Capito)投票向乌克兰提供援助的帖子。小特朗普说:“她今年不会竞选连任，但她在RINO的儿子正在竞选西弗吉尼亚州州长。”“MAGA–向乌克兰第一RINOs发送消息&反对，”他说，指的是唐纳德·特朗普的“让美国再次伟大”运动。
莫里西在一次采访中将这些点联系起来。
莫里西说:“我认为选择非常明确:你有一个有成就大事记录的保守派战士，你有政治皇室成员，自由派当权派的一部分。”
此后，摩尔·卡皮托利用一切机会确保选民知道他的忠诚所在。在WSAZ电视台主办的共和党州长论坛上，候选人被问及他们可以做些什么来帮助那些在公用事业费率频繁上涨的情况下难以支付账单的固定收入人群。
“这就是为什么我们选举唐纳德·特朗普为总统极其重要的原因，”卡皮托在谴责拜登政府最近发布的一项规定后表示，该规定将迫使燃煤电厂捕获其排放或关闭。
具有讽刺意味的是，共和党州长吉姆·贾斯蒂斯(Jim Justice)正在竞选即将退休的民主党人乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)的参议员席位，他是唯一一个在任何初选中获得特朗普支持的候选人。与大多数候选人相比，大法官更不认同特朗普。例如，州长支持两党基础设施法案，向该州投入数百万美元建设宽带和道路。
亚历克斯·穆尼，一位在初选中反对正义的国会议员，利用一切机会称正义为“RINO”。贾斯蒂斯是一名前亿万富翁商人，性格随和，为他赢得了忠实的追随者，他最初于2017年当选为民主党人，后来在任期早期的特朗普集会上成为共和党人。穆尼投票反对基础设施法案。
穆尼说，他承认拜登是总统，但觉得2020年的选举不公平。他投票不认可拜登在宾夕法尼亚州的胜利。
在过去一周的新闻发布会上，当被问及他是否认为拜登合法获胜时，Justice用了挑衅的语气，尽管他闪烁其词:“这有什么关系?我是说，这到底有什么关系?”
州长接着讲了一个他经常讲的故事，关于他年轻时参加高尔夫锦标赛时父亲告诉他的一些事情。
“爸爸会告诉我，‘儿子，在高尔夫球运动中，唯一重要的是下一杆。如果你最后一杆一杆进洞，那又怎样?"
West Virginia voters must pick from GOP candidates who dispute 2020 outcome
CHARLESTON, W.Va. --When West Virginia Republicans vote in Tuesday's primary, they will have a hard time finding a major candidate on the ballot in any statewide race who openly acknowledges that PresidentJoe Bidenwon the 2020election.
Embracing or skirting the line on election denialism has become an unspoken checkoff among Republicans running for governor and Congress in one of the states most loyal to former PresidentDonald Trump. What is spoken — almost constantly — is praise for the party's presumptive White House nominee from a slate of candidates that includes a convicted Jan. 6 insurrectionist as well as the sons of two GOP members of West Virginia's congressional delegation.
Glenn Elliott, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for an open Senate seat, said denying the election outcome was a “purity test" for West Virginia Republicans.
“You’re either with the leader of the party on everything, or you’re kicked out. You’re not a Republican anymore, you’re a ‘RINO,’” he said, using the acronym for “Republicans In Name Only.” "That’s not a party — that’s a cult.”
It's about the worst thing you can call a Republican candidate in West Virginia.
In the crowded governor’s race, Secretary of State Mac Warner has said he “firmly” believes, like Trump, that the election was stolen, even though dozens of courts and audits have determined the race was fairly decided in Biden's favor.
Warner, whose office oversees West Virginia's elections, has said tech companies, the media and federal intelligence officials worked together to cover up incriminating information found on the laptop of Biden’s son Hunter. Warner's statements came a few months after announcing his campaign after years of toeing the line on the 2020 election. The Army veteran said his views have nothing to do with running for office.
“Donald Trump won West Virginia in a landslide,” former state lawmaker Moore Capito, another candidate for governor, said in response to a question from The Associated Press. “And I just wish that the rest of the country would run our elections like we do here in the state of West Virginia.”
Other candidates hedge or do not answer directly.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has refused to provide a yes or no answer to questions about whether Biden won the 2020 race but has asserted that there were “huge irregularities,” “significant irregularities,” and “very, very severe issues” relating to that vote.
Businessman Chris Miller, also a candidate for governor and the son of U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, said people do not trust mail-in ballots. He did not say whether he thought Biden was the legitimate winner.
"If you are voting in-person and see your vote cast, that’s one thing," he said. With mail-in ballots, he added, “You can’t see it. You don’t know what’s happened, and that’s the danger."
Derrick Evans, a former state lawmaker who spent three months in prison for participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has escalated his verbal attacks against his primary rival. He calls Carol Miller a “commie RINO” who “refused to stand and fight with President Trump,” as well as an “undocumented Democrat.”
Never mind that Miller was aligned with Trump in almost 100% of her House votes while he was in office.
Evans, in an interview, said he believes his willingness to stand by Trump and say the election was stolen will carry him to victory — even though Miller, hours after Evans and other rioters had stormed the Capitol, voted to challenge the Electoral College results in two states Biden won.
She said in a statement at the time that she had a constitutional duty to “ensure that all Americans have access to free, fair, and accurate elections.”
Evans is undeterred, claiming his role in the violent attack on the Capitol as a badge of honor.
“I think when the people learn I’m the only elected legislator in the entire country who had the courage to stand up against the stolen election and had the courage to stand up beside of President Trump on Jan. 6," he said, “I think that that makes them realize very seriously that I am the guy to represent this district on a national stage.”
In an email to the AP, Carol Miller did not directly address the 2020 result. But she said she is the only candidate in the race who "has never been a registered Democrat or run for office as a Democrat.”
In the West Virginia governor's race, all four major candidates are in lockstep on supporting the state’s coal industry, imposing stiffer penalties for fentanyl dealers and the importance of economic development.
Morrisey, the fundraising front-runner, tossed the “RINO” label at Capito, who is regarded as his main competitor. Morrissey cited a February 2024 social media post from Donald Trump Jr. criticizing a vote by Capito's mother, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, to send aid to Ukraine. “She’s not up for reelection this year, but her RINO son is running for Governor of West Virginia," Trump Jr. said. “MAGA – Send a message to the Ukraine First RINOs&OPPOSE,” he said, referring to Donald Trump's “Make American Great Again” movement.
Morrisey, in an interview, connected the dots.
“I think the choice is very clear: You have a conservative fighter with a record of getting big things done, and you have members of political royalty, part of the liberal establishment,” Morrisey said.
Moore Capito has since taken every opportunity to make sure voters know where his loyalty lies. In a Republican gubernatorial forum hosted by television station WSAZ, candidates were asked what they could do to help people on fixed incomes struggling to pay their bills amid frequent utility rate increases.
“That’s why it’s incredibly important that we elect Donald Trump as president,” Capito said, after condemning a recently released Biden administration rule that would force coal-fired power plants to capture their emissions or shut down.
Ironically, Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who is running for the Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Joe Manchin, is the only candidate to garner the coveted Trump endorsement in any primary race. And Justice has disagreed with Trump more than most candidates. For example, the governor supported the bipartisan infrastructure act that poured millions of dollars into the state to build out broadband and roads.
Alex Mooney, a congressman running against Justice in the primary, has called Justice a “RINO” at every opportunity. Justice, a former billionaire businessman with a folksy personality that has won him a devoted following, was initially elected as a Democrat in 2017 before becoming a Republican at a Trump rally early in his term. Mooney voted against the infrastructure bill.
Mooney has said he recognizes Biden as president but feels the 2020 election was not a fair one. He voted not to certify Biden's victory in Pennsylvania.
Justice, asked during a news briefing this past week whether he thinks Biden won legitimately, took a defiant tone even as he hedged: “What does it matter? I mean, what in the world does it matter?"
The governor then spun a story he has told often about something his father told him when he was competing in golf tournaments as a young man.
“Dad would tell me, ‘Son, the only shot that matters in golf is the next shot. If you made a hole in one as your last shot, well, so what?"
