CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Before the coronavirus upended the world, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was in trouble.
His own party rebelled against him. Federal prosecutors investigated him. Embarrassing lawsuits loomed. But now some believe that the Republican governor has been able to use his daily virus news conferences to stabilize his reputation ahead of the primary elections next week, while drowning out competitors whose campaigns have been drastically hamstrung by the pandemic. “The irony is, he could be the comeback kid because of the crisis," said Robert Rupp, a history and political science professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College.