WV Gov. Justice 22 points ahead of Manchin in 2024 Senate race: poll

West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice holds a commanding lead over incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in a hypothetical 2024 matchup.

Justice took 54% support among registered voters compared to 32% for Manchin in a recent survey from the East Carolina University Center for Survey Research.

West Virginia has trended increasingly Republican in recent years, thought it had previously been a Democratic bastion. Manchin first entered the Senate in 2010 and is the state's sole Democrat elected to statewide office. Justice, on the other hand, won election as a Democrat in 2016 but switched to the GOP after taking office. He then won reelection as a Republican.

The West Virginia governor has officially entered the race but faces a primary challenge from Rep. Alex Mooney. The governor holds a 53-12 lead over Mooney in the primary contest, according to The Hill.

Manchin, for his part, has not announced his intent to seek reelection.

A Mooney win in the primary may bolster the incumbent's prospects should he opt to pursue another term, however, as Mooney holds a much narrower 41-40 lead over Manchin.

Conducted between May 22-23, the survey questioned 957 registered voters in West Virginia and has a credibility interval of +/- 3.7%.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.