West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is running for Joe Manchin's Senate seat
CBSN
West Virginia's Republican Gov. Jim Justice is running for Senate, according to a Federal Election Commission filing he made Thursday. He's also expected to make an announcement Thursday afternoon at his Greenbrier resort.
Justice's Senate bid focuses attention on 75-year-old Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who has yet to announce whether he will run for election in 2024. He has also left the door open for a possible presidential run, telling "Face the Nation" in March "I'm not taking anything off the table."
Earlier Thursday, Manchin released this statement: "I am laser focused on doing the job West Virginians elected me to do — lowering healthcare costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, shoring up American energy security and getting our fiscal house in order. But make no mistake, I will win any race I enter."
A class of drugs known as GLP-1s have been helping people lose weight, but out of pocket costs put them out of reach for many Americans. In West Virginia, a subsidy program for public employees was showing promising results, but then the state abruptly ended it, leaving many searching for new solutions.