Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, right, and Democratic Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, left, had a back-and-forth on the state’s opioid crisis Tuesday night in a debate at Fairmont State University moderated by WV MetroNews Talkline host Hoppy Kercheval. (Photo courtesy of WV MetroNews)

MORGANTOWN — The first and likely last debate between Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Democratic Huntington Mayor Steve Williams in the race to become West Virginia’s next governor revealed a battle between two candidates who have fought the state’s drug crisis in different ways. Leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties declared victory for their candidates after Tuesday night’s debate between Morrisey and Williams at Fairmont State University, sponsored by WV MetroNews.
“West Virginia voters witnessed the stark contrast between a public servant who has dedicated his career to this state and a Washington lobbyist who has spent years pandering to corporate interests.” the West Virginia Democratic Party said in a statement Wednesday morning. “Huntington Mayor Steve Williams was the only candidate with a real vision for the future of West Virginia, while Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has once again shown that he is out of touch with the needs of our people.”
“West Virginia will be in great hands with Patrick Morrisey as the next governor,” Matt Herridge, chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, said in a statement late Tuesday. “… General Morrisey has demonstrated a clear vision to continue to make West Virginia the best place to live, work and raise a family.”
During Tuesday’s debate, Williams raised the issue of Morrisey’s previous work in the mid-2000s for a pharmaceutical trade group that represented companies that later sued for their role in manufacturing and distributing prescription opioids that is highly addictive, which has fueled West Virginia’s current substance use disorder crisis.
“(Morrisey) was in the Washington DC swamp and … you were representing some of the same companies that we ended up suing.” Williams said Tuesday night. During Williams’ tenure as mayor, Huntington and Cabell County filed a lawsuit in 2017 against AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corporation. The lawsuit is still pending. According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, more than 780 million prescription opioids flooded the state between 2007 and 2012. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, West Virginia’s drug overdose death rate rose from 36.3 to 100,000 people in 2011 at 90.9 per 100,000 people. Those numbers were fueled first by prescription opioids, then by heroin, and then by fentanyl. Morrisey was blasted for his lobbying past by former Democratic opponents for attorney general and in his unsuccessful 2018 U.S. Senate race, challenging U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a former lifelong Democrat, before registering as unaffiliated earlier this summer. But Morrisey has successfully sued opioid manufacturers and distributors, including a nearly $1 billion settlement with big pharmaceutical companies over prescription opioids. Morrisey’s focus in recent years has been to pressure the federal government to take a stronger role in preventing the trafficking of fentanyl from China, through Mexico and into the US.
“Now we’re in an election year, so you’re going to hear a different rhetoric,” Morrisey said, dismissing Williams’ criticism of his past lobbying work. “I want to make sure we build on that success in fighting the drug epidemic because fentanyl is a huge problem.”
The Attorney General’s Office and a coalition of cities and counties have secured more than $940 million in lawsuits against eight opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies: Johnson and Johnson, Teva, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Walmart, Allergan and Rite Aid. That process resulted in a memorandum of understanding between all 55 counties and more than 220 cities and municipalities that creates a formula for distributing opioid settlement money and creates the First West Virginia Foundation. The West Virginia First program split the settlements from opioid manufacturers and distributors, with 24.5 percent going to cities and counties, 3 percent going to the Attorney General’s Office, and 72.5 percent to the West Virginia First Foundation, a private non-profit organization approved by Legislative. , to ensure that funds are distributed equally to combat the supply of cheap opioids, fund substance use disorder treatment and recovery programs, vocational training and education, and other tools to help them achieve long-term recovery .
“A few years ago, we created a rebate structure for all 55 counties that won the support of every county and virtually every municipality,” Morrisey said. “It was unanimously passed by the Legislature. It was signed into law by (Gov. Jim Justice) with over $1 billion in gross money.”
Morrisey first announced the West Virginia First plan in 2022 at a press conference with Williams by his side. Williams offered his support for the West Virginia First plan, even though any future settlement between Huntington/Cabell County and the pharmaceutical companies it is suing would not be part of the West Virginia First formula.
“I want to thank you… for coming to the press conference.” Morrisey told Williams Tuesday night. “At that press conference, the mayor was very supportive.”
The West Virginia Department of Human Services announced last week that overdose deaths in West Virginia continue to join a nationwide decline, with a 34 percent drop in provisional drug overdose deaths compared to the first four months of the year 2024 with the first four months of 2023. deaths fell from an estimated peak of 1,515 deaths in February 2022 to about 1,131 deaths in July. One of the hardest hit counties during the worst of the opioid crisis was Cabell County. According to the DoHS State Drug Overdose Scoreboard, there were 1,023 drug overdose deaths in the county between 2015 and 2021. Huntington has become notorious for heroin overdoses, having recorded 28 heroin overdoses in one period four hours in one day. Williams, who took over as mayor in 2013, created teams to quickly respond to overdose problems, worked to implement treatment options, then joined Cabell County in filing an ongoing lawsuit against major manufacturers and distributors of opioids. Since taking office, Williams said his city’s reputation has rebounded.
“We took a city that was sitting in a position of being the most obese, the most unhealthy and the most drug-addicted in the country.” Williams said. “We are now identified as a top 100 city to live in, a top 50 city to retire to, the 17th best run city in the country and also in the top 100 safest cities in country.”
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at [email protected]