Election Day is Tuesday, beginning at 6:30 a.m. and ending at 7:30 p.m. And it feels like a long way to get to this point.

Keep in mind, the first person to announce for the 2024 elections was Republican Huntington businessman Chris Miller when he said he would run for governor all the way back in December 2021.

U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., announced his U.S. Senate race in November 2022, the same week he won election to the redistricted 2nd Congressional District after defeating former 1st District Congressman David McKinley in the May 2022 GOP primary. State Treasurer Riley Moore announced for Mooney’s U.S. House seat later that month.

I enjoy covering elections, but I do lament that election season keeps creeping in earlier and earlier, much like seeing Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes on the shelf at grocery stores in September. It’s just too soon.

So, when the polls close Tuesday evening, the 2024 election season will have been 34 months, or 1,050 days. That’s two months short of three years! I remember not long ago when it was a big deal that Stephen Smith, who ran as a Democratic candidate for governor in 2020, was the first to announce his candidacy two years out from the primary.

But it all comes to an end Tuesday night. And I know I may be jinxing things, but I expect an easy night at least when it comes to our major statewide races. I’m hoping there will be enough votes counted by 9:30 p.m. to be able to call some races so you can read the results in your morning paper, though also be sure to check online for my stories as well.

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I thought last Tuesday’s debate between Republican Patrick Morrisey and Democratic Huntington Mayor Glenn Elliott for the race for governor went well. It was a very civil affair that showed the differences between both major party candidates.

I think Williams, who has been the underdog in polling and fundraising, did what he needed to do. He needed to show how he would be different than Morrisey, how his experiences made him more qualified, and he took the fight to Morrisey on several key issues. Williams has the heavy lift, needing to peel off voters from Morrisey and convince the remaining undecided voters why he would be the best governor.

But Williams stumbled some on his attacks on Morrisey, especially when he tried to hit Morrisey on his past lobbying for the pharmaceutical industry. He didn’t really make the case and was clumsy in his attempts to link Morrisey to the state’s substance use disorder crisis that was fueled at first by prescription opioids.

Morrisey, who is a hard-charging guy, I think came across as very gubernatorial. He was measured and clear. I’ve seen Morrisey in several debates over the years, but this was the least flustered I’ve seen him. He even easily deflected the lobbyist attack line from Williams, when in the past he usually got defensive when that was brought up.

Where I do think Morrisey stumbled was relying on his Backyard Brawl platform, where he calls for comparisons with other states, audits of state agencies and programs and reviews of rules and regulations. WV MetroNews Talkline Host Hoppy Kercheval asked questions that required specific answers. Saying “we’ll audit that” was an easy way out.

Frankly, we already audit state departments and agencies. That’s what the Legislative Auditor’s Office does, and they have audits and performance reviews sitting on the metaphorical shelf ready to go if a future governor or the Legislature wants to act on them.

I always like to point out the one legislative audit from years ago that said we have too many four-year public colleges and universities based on state population. And that was prior to the population loss we’ve had since then. Are we close to closing public colleges and universities with low student populations or poor performing institutions of higher learning? No, but it would sure save the state some tax dollars if we did.

Fact of the matter is there are plenty of audits and studies of state government, and there will be more in the future. Of course we need to be competitive with other states, but the data already exists. Whoever the next governor is, they’ll need to come up with a legislative agenda quickly and pull from existing data to do so, which will require immediate decision-making, not lengthy audits.

Again, both candidates need to be applauded for stepping up and debating.

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I leave legislative election coverage up to local newspapers, but I will have an analysis of elections for House of Delegates and state Senate after Tuesday’s election.

I do not do predictions of specific races. I can say confidently that Republicans in both chambers will maintain their supermajority status.

There are three Democratic state senators in the 34-member Senate. But watch the races in the 16th Senatorial District between state Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, and former Democratic House member John Doyle. Also watch the 6th Senatorial District, where issues with early voting ballots in Mingo County could affect the race between Republican Craig Hart and Democratic candidate Jeff Disibbio.

In the 100-member House, I can see a scenario where the 11-member Democratic House caucus shrinks by one or two members. With the House being divided into 100 single-member districts, it tends to be a more populist body. With shrinking Democratic voter registrations even in counties with blue cities, the remaining Democratic members largely represent the state’s larger cities.