West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, says he's always had conservative values and that the the very people that left him were Democrats.
Justice is running to replace outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin. The governor currently holds a commanding 36-point lead over Democrat Glenn Elliot and looks to flip the seat to Republicans for the first time in 14 years.
"I grew up a Republican through and through," Justice told Newsmax TV's "America Right Now."
"All of our family members, Republicans. I was in a situation where I saw West Virginia and the leadership, the leadership of the Republican Party. I wasn't happy with what we were doing. I thought we were going the wrong way from a business standpoint and everything else. I never run for public office other than being on the board of education in Raleigh County, West Virginia. But with all that being said, I absolutely I was not happy. And so I just said, I'm going to run and I'm going to run as a Democrat. And I'm going to win.
"And lo and behold, that's what we did. Now, I tried, I tried really, really hard. And we're trying to get a budget passed and we got to crunch time. And the very people, the very people that left me were the Democrats. And I said, I can't play these games," he added.
In 2017, Justice told former President Donald Trump about his intention to switch to the Republican party.
"I told my family about it and everything, and then I went straight to the White House and saw my friend Donald Trump, and I told him what I was going to do. He jumped across the desk in the oval Office, put his hand out, and said, do it right now, Jim. Do it right now. It wasn't long after that and we were on our way. And then we got West Virginia really rolling," he during an appearance on "America Right Now."
He said he yearns for a day when there is less rancor in politics and more collective problem solving.
"I mean, for God's sakes, just because we're trying to one up somebody because they're a Republican or a Democrat, let's first and foremost get at the fact that we're all Americans, and we got all kinds of problems in D.C." Justice told Newsmax.
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