Coal Man vs. Action Jack: Governor Hopefuls Spar Over the State’s Future

Governor Debate

The final debate of the day pitted Nationalist Coleman Nutter, “the Coal Man,” against Federalist Jackson Rapold, “Action Jack” — and it quickly became a referendum on the single question dividing the two parties: nuclear energy.

Asked whether he would prioritize higher wages or quality-of-life improvements to stop West Virginia’s population loss, Nutter chose investment in education and community development, and endorsed student-loan forgiveness for graduates who stay and work in the state for at least five years. “When more people stay in West Virginia, West Virginia grows together,” he said, returning to his convention refrain of putting “West Virginia first.”

Rapold agreed on loan forgiveness but tied his answer to the Federalist platform’s nuclear ambitions, arguing that building out nuclear energy — and eventually exporting it — could make West Virginia “one of the most popular states for creating jobs.” Pressed on whether he would accept a nuclear plant in his own backyard, Rapold said he’d “bite the bullet” if it created enough jobs, noting he already lives near an electrical station, and defended fusion research as a long-term investment worth its ten-year horizon.

Nutter drew the sharpest contrast of the night, declaring his party “against nuclear energy” and questioning whether anyone truly wants to live beside a plant. Instead, he pitched growing the economy “from the bottom up” through small businesses and entrepreneurship, the subject of his own Boys State legislation. Rapold parried that small businesses can be started anywhere — “you can go to Texas” — but that homegrown nuclear power would give West Virginia something unique to offer.

The clash sharpened in the closing exchange. Citing the state’s 49th-place ranking in education, Nutter argued the surest way to keep future leaders home is to invest in them directly: “Why are we focusing on nuclear when all the leaders of West Virginia are right here?” Rapold held firm that the nuclear program “is what’s going to save us,” promising more taxpayer dollars toward the jobs it would create.

In their final minute, the contrast held to the end. Nutter urged the room to “invest in us, not nuclear, not the power — we are the people of West Virginia.” Rapold thanked his opponents, his party, and God, and closed with a promise familiar to anyone who’d followed Action Jack all week: to work “as hard as I can” — provided his whole cabinet does the same.