At what point does one quit trying to keep winning the last political party primary? At one point does one stop trying to play to the perceived whims of a base and simply just govern?

Gov. Patrick Morrisey won the 2024 GOP primary with 33.3% of the vote in a six-person primary. Albeit Morrisey didn’t win a clear majority and his closest competitor – former House Judiciary Committee Chairman Moore Capito – was only about five points behind Morrisey, but he did win.

Turning to the general election, Morrisey carried the state last November with nearly 62% of the vote – a more than 30-point lead over former Democratic Huntington Mayor Steve Williams. And while Morrisey had several political statements in his inauguration speech on Jan 13 aimed at his supporters, he also said the following:

“Today I’m calling on all of us to put aside our differences and unite for the greater good,” Morrisey said. “Every person here…has a role to play in building the future that we and our entire state deserves. Together, we’re going to make West Virginia a beacon of opportunity, of hope and prosperity for all.”

But here we are, nearly six months after Morrisey first took office and it appears he continues to do things aimed at courting a political base and punching down at a political minority that simply posed no threat.

Take, for example, a social media post by the governor on June 13 stating he was keeping law enforcement on alert in anticipation of last weekend’s No Kings anti-Trump protests across the country, including several peaceful protests in West Virginia.

“There are planned political demonstrations across West Virginia this weekend,” Morrisey wrote. “I support the constitutional right to free speech and assembly, but West Virginia will uphold law and order. We will not tolerate looting, destruction, vandalism, or any violence toward law enforcement. I have directed the National Guard and State Police to stand ready to quell any actions that cross the line from peaceful protest to violent criminal behavior.”

Now, on one hand I can understand doing this based on the imagery out of Los Angeles (even though the violence one sees in L.A. is largely relegated to a small portion of the county). But anyone who has observed a protest by the political left in West Virginia could have told Morrisey that these protests are almost always tame.

West Virginia Watch reporter Caity Coyne estimated there were more than 1,000 people at the No Kings protest at the State Capitol Building on June 14. That’s larger than most protests organized on the Capitol grounds by the political left. Having attended the memorial for former Democrat-turned-Republican lawmaker Doug Skaff last week, there were significantly more people, with the line to get into the Culture Center wrapping around the building.

No National Guard members were called out for the Capitol’s No Kings protest. The State Police didn’t show up in force. So, why posture like this? Because it looks good to the base.

Take the Juneteenth controversy for another example. It has never been made an official state holiday, but since 2021, former governor Jim Justice has given state employees the day off as a paid holiday. Now, Justice had a bad habit of giving state employees paid full days and half-days off, mostly as a morale-lifting measure in lieu of significant pay raises beyond the 5% average raises. But considering Juneteenth has been a federal holiday since 2021, you can’t fault Justice for following the federal example.

Morrisey did follow past precedent and issued a proclamation last week honoring Juneteenth, celebrating the freeing of Black slaves in Texas after the Civil War concluded. But his office had told WOWK-TV that Morrisey would not be giving state employees a paid day off for Juneteenth.

A Morrisey spokesperson cited “continued fiscal challenges” as why state employees would not be given a paid day off for Juneteenth. But unless they know something I don’t, West Virginia is going to end the fiscal year in one week in the black. And whether you buy what Morrisey was selling back in January about a $400 million hole in the fiscal year 2026 budget beginning next Tuesday, that was solved with the budget bill that lawmakers passed a few months ago and that Morrisey signed, balancing that budget.

However, the perception to some in West Virginia’s Black community is that Morrisey didn’t want to appear like he was backtracking on his effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state government (A story I wrote a few weeks ago didn’t find very many programs outside of higher education that even fit the definition of DEI as defined by Morrisey in his January executive order).

It just seems silly given that President Trump hasn’t even tried to backtrack from the federal Juneteenth holiday. Giving state employees Juneteenth as a paid holiday wouldn’t have made Morrisey look like he was succumbing to the “woke mind virus,” and the cost would have been negligible. And as Hoppy Kercheval pointed out in his column, many state employees took a paid day off for Juneteenth anyway.

As I often point out, West Virginia is a very red conservative state based on voter registration and based on the GOP legislative supermajority and domination of congressional and Board of Public Works seats. I don’t understand the point of punching down at a political minority that isn’t a threat. I also think it shows a lack of trust in the politically conservative majority that voted you in.

(Adams is the state government reporter for Ogden Newspapers. He can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)