Two-term Republican Gov. Jim Justice is facing an increasingly strong primary bout with stalwart conservative Rep. Alex Mooney.
With Sen. Joe Manchin — the lone Democrat in statewide office in West Virginia — expected announce his retirement before year's end, the winner of the GOP primary this coming May will be considered a cinch to take the seat.
Last month former President Donald Trump, in a surprise move, endorsed Justice for the Republican primary.
"I have the highest respect for President Trump — not to mention a record of strong support for his agenda," Mooney told Newsmax last week just before he went on the House floor to support fellow conservative Rep. Mike Johnson, R.-La., for speaker.
"But I respectfully disagree with him on this one. "
Mooney urged voters to "compare my record to that of my opponent" and suggested he's the true MAGA candidate in the race.
Many grass-roots conservatives are backing Mooney over Justice.
They note Justice opposed Trump on a number of key issues, including backing President Joe Biden's costly Build Back Better infrastructure bill that Trump denounced as the "non-infrastructure bill."
"Alex has been supportive of Trump for some time," former State GOP Vice Chair Lynn Staton told us, "Jim Justice has some questionable history. Maybe it is catching up with him."
On the stump, Mooney almost always notes that he backed "the entire Trump agenda" and that, along with Speaker Johnson, he fought hard against both Trump impeachments.
In '22, Trump strongly backed Mooney when redistricting forced him into a primary with fellow GOP Rep. David McKinney.
Mooney won that race handily.
In recent weeks, Mooney's grassroots campaigning underscoring his conservative history appears to be paying off.
More than 30 Republican state legislators have weighed in for Mooney.
Moreover, the West Virginia Republican Assembly, the leading conservative organization in the Mountain State, endorsed Mooney and denounced Justice's support of what it called Biden's "wasteful spending."
It also slammed Justice for his "lock down" of the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The polls are showing that challenger Mooney has a shot.
Two months ago, a MetroNews West Virginia poll showed Justice leading Mooney by a handsome 58-to-26 percent among likely primary voters.
But Mooney's own Osage Research poll shows that when GOP primary voters are reminded of Justice's support of the Biden infrastructure bill, the COVID shutdown, and his overseeing an increase in the gasoline tax, Mooney actually leads the governor by 48% to 40%.
Mooney is running an aggressive campaign.
Where Justice, 72, never joins parades or engages in grassroots campaigning, Mooney, 52, has so far marched in 12 parades this year and speaks to any group that will invite him.
The West Virginia Senate contest is being dubbed "the race of the year" because a Republican pickup could put the Senate in Republican hands.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.