Photo caption: State Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, dropped out of the West Virginia attorney general race on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, to instead seek re-election to the state Senate. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)
BY: LORI KERSEY – NOVEMBER 22, 2023 2:59 PM
Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, is dropping out of the race to be West Virginia’s next attorney general, he announced Wednesday. Weld will instead seek re-election to the state Senate.
“Politics is a grind that sometimes requires candidates to compromise their core principles for political gain,” Weld said in a statement posted to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday morning. “I have seen too many people lose sight of who they are and what they are fighting for in these campaigns. And the one thing I know about myself is that compromising my principles and values for power, influence, and a title is just not who I am.”
“That is why I have made the decision to seek re-election to the State Senate in 2024,” Weld said in the statement. “As a member of the Senate, I can continue to fight for West Virginia and play a significant role in its future without losing sight of who I am or why I got into public office in the first place.”
In an interview with West Virginia Watch Wednesday, Weld said he had been contacted by potential donors who wanted to make a “fairly large donation” to his campaign.
“But I would have had to change some of the campaign’s messaging, some of the issues that we put at the forefront of the campaign and that are important to me,” Weld said. “I just wasn’t willing to do that, and to make changes of the campaign that I was running or the type of candidate that I am, in order to attract donors and campaign contributions.”
Weld said if re-elected to the Senate, he would continue to focus on his priorities of veterans’ issues, mental health and substance abuse.
Weld, an Air Force veteran and attorney with Spilman Thomas & Battle, was first elected to the Senate in 2016. Before that he served one term in the House of Delegates. He’s currently majority whip, chair of the military committee and vice chair of the Judiciary, Confirmations, Government Organization, Health and Human Resources, Rules and Workforce committees.
Weld’s departure from the attorney general’s race leaves Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, and Republican state Auditor J.B. McCuskey seeking the office. Current state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has announced a bid for state governor.
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