West Virginia gubernatorial candidates Morrisey and Williams make case for business | News, Sports, Jobs

TALKING EXPERIENCE – Huntington Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Williams spoke about his accomplishments during his three terms as mayor and how he can bring that experience to the governorship. – Steven Allen Adams

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS – Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Democratic Huntington Mayor Steve Williams presented different governing styles to members of West Virginia's business community on Wednesday as they made their bids to become the state's next governor.

Morrisey and Williams spoke separately to attendees of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting and business summit at the Greenbrier Resort on Wednesday afternoon.

Morrisey, who is completing his third four-year term as top prosecutor, told attendees that he wants to continue to build on the work of Gov. Jim Justice and the West Virginia Legislature, but stressed that there is more work to be done and he is the man who can lead the state into that future.

“With the right moves, we have a chance to climb the rankings in a way that has never been seen before,” Morrisey said. “The future looks very bright for West Virginia, but we have to work together… We are all on Team West Virginia now and have a chance to accomplish some really amazing things together.”

As governor, Morrisey plans to reduce taxes, regulations and other barriers to the state's economic growth. Morrisey wants to study neighboring states to determine how West Virginia can become more competitive and outperform neighboring states to make West Virginia more attractive to investment.

SETTING THE FOCUS – Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Morrisey said Wednesday at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting and economic summit that he will focus on taxes, regulatory reform, educational choice, drug use and infrastructure. – Steven Allen Adams

“We want to have an economic backyard battle with all the states that we engage with,” Morrisey said. “We want to make sure that West Virginia is no longer ranked 48th, 49th and 50th on issues of taxes, regulations, labor laws and licensing.”

Williams, who is in his third four-year term as mayor and is a former member of the House of Representatives, highlighted his successes in turning around nearly bankrupt Huntington and tackling the city's drug crisis. Williams said West Virginia needs to focus on being economically competitive on the world stage.

“Our competition is not our neighbors. Our competition is the global market,” said Williams. “We have the ability to shape the market for innovation and set standards that the rest of the world would follow. We have to believe that we can achieve anything we set our minds to.”

Regarding the drug crisis in the state, Morrisey said he will continue to work with the West Virginia First Foundation, a nonprofit he co-founded after the attorney general's office and city and county governments reached a more than $1 billion settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors. The foundation will dedicate a portion of those funds to substance abuse treatment, recovery and drug enforcement.

Morrisey also said he would work with other states to pressure the federal government to take a tougher line in stopping the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

“For the first time in our state's history, we now have a plan of attack against the terrible drug mess and we have the resources to deal with it,” Morrisey said. “This is a damn good thing that will save a lot of lives in West Virginia. But we have to go further.”

Williams pointed to his success in Huntington in curbing an opioid and heroin overdose epidemic in the city to show that he has experience he can bring to the table as governor.

“Huntington has transformed from the epicenter of the opioid epidemic to the epicenter of the solution to the opioid epidemic,” said Williams. “Huntington and its citizens now proclaim and embrace with great pride the moniker of America's Best Community and City of Solutions.”

A focus will be education for Morrisey, who will work to increase the number of students enrolled in public colleges and universities, as well as the state's two-year community colleges and technical colleges. He also wants to expand school choice options, such as public charter schools and the Hope Scholarship education voucher program, which provides qualifying parents with a portion of state tax dollars for private and home-schooling.

“I want to make sure that school choice in our state is recognized as the best and most comprehensive school choice policy in America,” Morrisey said. “I promised you that. And this is an opportunity we have to spread a message of hope throughout our state because we are selling hope for our future generations.”

Williams has been a vocal advocate for an amendment to the state constitution protecting women's reproductive rights following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and West Virginia's near-total ban on abortion.

“To lead the nation, we must create a platinum standard for women's health care and become a bastion of women's health and reproductive freedom,” Williams said. “When we say climbers are always free, we must make sure that applies to female climbers, too.”

Morrisey said the state needs to keep working on improving infrastructure, not just roads, bridges and water, but also expanding broadband. Morrisey said West Virginia needs to keep working on that and attract more federal money.

“We need to continue to build out our infrastructure,” Morrisey said. “We need to make sure West Virginia is on the forefront of some of the modern infrastructure tools of the 21st century. We don't need an internet that's slow moving.”

In closing, Williams said that although he is the Democratic nominee, his political philosophy is more that of a fiscal conservative. He urged those present to give his candidacy a chance.

“I want to build a state with an economic environment and ecosystem that enables growth, creates prosperity and fosters innovation, and ensures the freedom to achieve our goals without a government mandate but with government partnership,” Williams said. “We need all hands on board, not just those of the right political party, gender, race or any other designation.”

Morrisey asked those in attendance to look at his hard work over the last nearly 12 years as Attorney General and hopes to bring that same work ethic to the role of Governor.

“I'll tell you, maybe by the end of my term, you'll look at me as a guy who gets things done. That's certainly the goal,” Morrisey said. “Let's take on these challenges over the course of the next few years and make sure West Virginia really moves up in those economic rankings.”