W. Virginia Gov. Justice leaves Democratic Party

At a rally with President Donald Trump in West Virginia on Thursday night, the state’s Gov. Jim Justice declared that he is leaving the Democratic Party that he said abandoned him and is joining the Republican Party.

“The Democrats walked away from me,” Justice told the crowd of thousands gathered at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington. “I can’t help you any more being a Democrat governor.”

“As a coach, I would tell you that it’s time to run another play,” he added.

Justice, who until 2015 was registered as a Republican, is one of the last remaining Democrats elected to statewide positions in the state. Trump won West Virginia by 42 points over Democrat Hillary Clinton. The switch was first reported by the New York Times.

After being brought to the stage in the middle of Trump’s rally, Justice praised Trump as a “great president.” He also touted his relationships with Trump’s children, including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both of whom he said he has gotten to know personally.

“This man is a good man,” Justice said of Trump. “He’s got a backbone, he’s got real ideas, he cares about America, he cares about us in West Virginia.”

Justice’s announcement was made under the cover of virtual secrecy, according to Democratic Party officials, who said that the governor did not inform the party nor did he inform his own staff before the news became public.

Democrats blasted Justice’s announcement and suggested that the coal and hospitality executive was influenced by his personal financial interest— to say nothing of his political ones — when he made the switch.