Jim Justice
James Conley Justice II (born April 27, 1951) is an American coal and agriculture businessman and politician who is the junior United States Senator from West Virginia since 2025. He was the Governor of West Virginia from 2017 to 2025. He is the owner of over 50 companies, including The Greenbrier, a luxury resort. Justice is the only billionaire from the state of West Virginia.
Jim Justice | |||||||||
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![]() Justice in 2024 | |||||||||
United States Senator from West Virginia | |||||||||
Assumed office January 14, 2025 Serving with Shelley Moore Capito | |||||||||
Preceded by | Joe Manchin | ||||||||
36th Governor of West Virginia | |||||||||
In office January 16, 2017 – January 13, 2025 | |||||||||
Lieutenant | Mitch Carmichael Craig Blair Randy Smith | ||||||||
Preceded by | Earl Ray Tomblin | ||||||||
Succeeded by | Patrick Morrisey | ||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||
Born | James Conley Justice II April 27, 1951 Charleston, West Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||
Political party | Republican (before 2015, 2017–present) Democratic (2015–2017) | ||||||||
Spouse(s) | Cathy Comer (m. 1975) | ||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||
Education | University of Tennessee Marshall University (BA, MBA) | ||||||||
Website | Senate website | ||||||||
Nickname(s) | Big Jim[1] | ||||||||
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Career
A Republican, Justice ran for Governor of West Virginia in the 2016 general election as the Democratic nominee. He won the general election and became Governor of West Virginia in 2017.[2]
On August 3, 2017, Justice announced at a Trump rally that he was switching political parties becoming a member of the Republican Party.[3]
In April 2023, Justice announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in the 2024 election, against incumbent Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.[4] He won the election in November 2024.
Health
On January 11, 2022, Justice tested positive for COVID-19 and described feeling "extremely unwell".[5] He said that his heart rate and blood pressure were high.[5]
Jim Justice Media
Then-candidate Justice (seated fifth from the left) in Fairmont, West Virginia, in September 2016.
Jim and Cathy Justice with Vice President Mike Pence in March 2017
Justice speaks with First Lady Melania Trump at an opioids roundtable in Huntington.
Jim Justice with Babydog, his pet bulldog that often accompanies him
Notes
References
- ↑ "Big Jim". June 2023. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ↑ "Jim Justice wins WV gubernatorial race". Retrieved November 12, 2016.[dead link]
- ↑ Martin, Jonathan (August 3, 2017). "West Virginia Governor to Switch from Democrat to Republican again". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/us/politics/west-virginia-governor-to-switch-from-democrat-to-republican-trump.html?. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
- ↑ "West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is running for Joe Manchin's Senate seat". MSN. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "West Virginia governor feels 'extremely unwell' after testing positive for Covid-19 and cancels state legislature address". CNN. January 12, 2022.
Other websites
- Governor Jim Justice Archived 2013-04-05 at the Wayback Machine official government site
- Justice for WV campaign website Archived 2015-08-03 at the Wayback Machine
- "Jim Justice" article in The West Virginia Encyclopedia