He’s a former Republican.

And a former independent. In fact, he has switched parties so much that Justice sounded downright disenchanted about politics when chatting with [The Post] in 2011. “Like everybody else, I get horribly frustrated when I see what our leaders do, but I’m just not going to get involved in trying to create things before elections.”

This election cycle, Justice has talked about the importance of West Virginia being a faith-based community. He was the only Democratic candidate for governor who questioned humans’ impact on climate change.

And that’s precisely what makes Justice so appealing to Democrats. A traditional Democrat doesn’t have much of a chance these days in West Virginia. Justice fits the mold of a new West Virginia Democrat. He’s small-business friendly; he’s coal-friendly. He’s someone who could be considered a Republican in many blue states.