CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – State Senator Mike Stuart, the former chief federal law enforcement official as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia and member of the Trump Administration, announced he is a candidate for Attorney General for the State of West Virginia in 2024.
“With tremendous humility and a deep sense of purpose, I announce my candidacy for Attorney General of the Great State of West Virginia,” said former United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “I am the right person at the right time with the right experience and background to be the next Attorney General. I have a big record of taking on powerful forces and winning at the highest levels. I am a proven conservative with a proven record and built to be a strong Attorney General.”
The former United States Attorney continued, “My priorities? Many of the same issues I personally dealt with for years as the United States Attorney- the opiate and drug scourge, protecting law enforcement and our veterans, federal and regulatory overreach, corruption, Medicaid and consumer fraud, elder abuse, domestic violence, and protecting our children. I carry in my pocket each day a wallet filled with the beautiful faces of victims of the opiate crisis. It’s those faces that re-inspire me each day. It’s those pictures that compelled me to run for Attorney General. Those pictures haunt me in the dark of night and they remind me of the profound importance of our work.”
In a major endorsement of Stuart’s campaign, former acting United States Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said, “I’m proud to endorse Mike Stuart for Attorney General of West Virginia. Mike was a strong United States Attorney and he will be a strong West Virginia Attorney General. We live in a dangerous world where traditional American values and American jobs are under assault each and every day. Mike’s a natural leader, a fighter and a strong conservative who will aggressively defend our families, coal, natural gas, American energy, the Second Amendment, the unborn, and ferociously protect the values of the people of West Virginia. He will always put America First!”
“I am profoundly humbled by and thankful for the endorsement of former United States Attorney General Matt Whitaker,” said Stuart. “I worked personally with General Whitaker over my term as United States Attorney and his confidence in me speaks volumes. He knows I’m a proven conservative fighter and that I’ll fight with all I can muster every single day for the people of West Virginia.”
“The Biden Administration, radical woke liberal policies, climate crazies and the war on coal, natural gas and American energy, open borders, the free flow of deadly drugs, soft on crime policies, and the federal regulatory state are engaging in a deliberate assault on the people of West Virginia and our jobs, our families, and our way of life,” continued Stuart. “We cannot afford to elevate a RINO to the critically important role of Attorney General. The liberals have attacked our freedom, our faith, and our families. The next Attorney General must be a proven conservative with a conservative record who is able to get to work on Day 1 without needing to learn on the job. If elected, I intend to continue the work of Attorney General Morrisey and even expand his fight with a sense of urgency for a better future for the people of West Virginia.”
Stuart served as West Virginia Co-Chair to President Trump’s successful campaign in 2016. President Trump nominated Stuart as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia and he was confirmed to the post by the United States Senate with the support of Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Capito. Prior to his work with the 2016 Trump campaign, Stuart Chaired the WV Republican Party and spearheaded a statewide bipartisan effort to bring a national Trump/Clinton Presidential debate to West Virginia.
As United States Attorney, the chief federal law enforcement officer in the District, Stuart rebuilt the District operations in Bluefield, Beckley, Huntington and Charleston, led the historic prosecution of two Justices of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, prosecuted the largest Medicaid fraud case in West Virginia history, took enough fentanyl off the streets to kill more than 40 million people, spearheaded the largest drug raid in the history of West Virginia (“Operation Saigon Sunset” in Huntington) that targeted nearly 100 defendants with more than 250 law enforcement officers at the federal, state and local levels, prosecuted one of the largest elder fraud prosecutions in the country in 2019, and led the largest methamphetamine bust in the history of the state in Parkersburg.
Stuart was elected to the State Senate in a nearly 17% landslide by defeating long-time four-term, 16-year incumbent Democrat Ron Stollings in a District that remains heavily Democrat. In Stuart’s first session in the State Senate, Stuart successfully led passage of four major bills including updating the State’s Controlled Substances Schedules, overhauling West Virginia’s out-of-control over-the-counter drug laws, doubling vehicle inspection stickers from one year to two, and protecting law enforcement by mandating all felony warrants be indexed in the National Crime Information Center database.
“I understand the challenges of the people of West Virginia because my story is a West Virginia story,” said Stuart. “My dad worked the coal mines for fifty years. My mom went to vocational school to become a nurse. My grandma Opal didn’t have clean running water because the creek near her home ran orange from acid mine drainage. In my family, college was an unlikely aspiration and I worked and paid my way through school. Our heritage is to Barbour County. I was raised in Morgantown. My wife is from Fairmont. I’ve spent the past twenty plus years raising my family in outside Charleston in Alum Creek and now I represent Lincoln, Logan, Boone and Kanawha Counties in the State Senate. I will be a champion for the people of West Virginia and, regardless of political party, I’ll fight for our better future.”
Stuart paid his own way through college and graduated with degrees in political science (B.S.) and accounting (B.S.B.Ad.) from West Virginia University. After working as an accountant for the global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in its Pittsburgh office, Stuart attended and graduated from the Boston University School of Law. Stuart’s campaign website is “MakeWVGreat.com”.
Stuart was born in Philippi and attended public schools in Morgantown, graduating from Morgantown High School. Stuart has resided in the Alum Creek area of Kanawha County for nearly twenty years with his wife, Katrina. They have been married for nearly 27 years and have two daughters- Isabella (21) and Audrey (20).