Party Switch Caught Justice’s Staff By Surprise

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s decision to switch political parties, from Democrat to Republican, “apparently caught almost everyone in his administration and West Virginia politics by surprise,” the Charleston Gazette reports.

“A source close to the Justice administration said staffers were caught by surprise.”

Even chief of staff Nick Casey, who is a former state Democratic Party chairman, didn’t know anything about the party switch when asked: “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”