DAVID MARCUS: Virginia, New Jersey should note my state’s ‘red renaissance’

Much like comedian Rodney Dangerfield, West Virginia don’t get no respect. But that may be starting to change, as this week S&P upgraded the Mountain State’s outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the AA- rating on West Virginia’s general obligation debt.

According to the rating agency, “Our view of West Virginia’s positively trending credit quality reflects the state’s recent run of large budgetary surpluses, multiple ample reserve funds, and management actions to control costs.”

There may be a message here for voters in neighboring Virginia and nearby New Jersey as they head to the polls to elect new governors. While long thought of as a backwards backwoods, West Virginia is now booming because of strong Republican leadership.

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The chief architect of this success is former governor, now Sen. Jim Justice, who told Fox News Digital, “We wanted to cut taxes, but we knew we’d have to pay for it. We wanted to make our roads better, but not put ourselves into debt. Balancing a state budget isn’t easy, but when you mind the store first, good things happen. If states want to succeed, I’d encourage them to follow the playbook I ran in West Virginia.”

Asian American voters will play a big role in the New Jersey gubernatorial election as a DNC official warns the party should increase its AAPI outreach efforts in coming elections.  (Victor J. Blue/Getty Images;Mark Kauzlarich/Getty Images)

And Justice isn’t the only member of Congress who cut his teeth in West Virginia state government during the recent renaissance in Appalachia; there is also freshman Republican Rep. Riley Moore.

According to Moore, “During my time as State Treasurer, West Virginia slowed growth of the state budget, grew our reserves by more than $800 million, enacted the largest personal income tax cut in history, and attracted record-breaking private investment to create thousands of new jobs. . . . It’s good to see the credit rating agencies agree that West Virginia’s outlook is positive.”

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In New Jersey, recently, I spoke with voters who almost universally told me that energy prices and taxes are the top issues in the gubernatorial race. Regarding both issues, West Virginia is a strong model to look to.

Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli, like Justice a businessman before politics, is committed to increasing energy production in the Garden State and to finding meaningful cuts to lower residents’ tax burden, while his opponent, Mikie Sherrill, promises more of the same stale Democrat policies.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, left, is running against Democrat Abigail Spanberger, right, in the state’s governor’s race in 2025.  (Kristen Zeis/The Washington Post via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Likewise, in Virginia, GOP candidate Winsome Earle-Sears is committed to continuing the work of current Gov. Glenn Youngkin, which led CNBC to rank the Old Dominion as the best state for business in the country, while Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger would reverse many of those policies.

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Prior to Youngkin, the attitude in West Virginia to those who move in from Virginia to take advantage of the low cost of living was something along the lines of, “Hello, and welcome, but please don’t bring your politics with you.”

Today, under Republican leadership, Virginia may be starting to take care of its own house.

Over the past 40 years, states like West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana have been the biggest losers in the game of geopolitical, neoliberal economic policy, which gutted their factories and towns.

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Today, the Trump administration is bringing trillions of dollars of new investment into the United States, and the states, like West Virginia, that create business-friendly policies are set to see extraordinary economic growth.

This makes the 2025 gubernatorial election in Virginia and New Jersey unusually important. Will these states adopt sound policies to take advantage of the investment Trump is bringing, or like California and New York, will they spend the rest of the Trump administration at war with the White House?

In a statement regarding the S&P decision, current Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey, said, “I am proud to oversee the first positive rating action by S&P regarding West Virginia’s creditworthiness in more than a decade.”

This kind of leadership is absolutely available to voters in Virginia and New Jersey if they want it, and why wouldn’t they?

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It might take some getting used to, but if you want a model of a strong, stable, thriving state, you need look no further than West “By God” Virginia.