(CNN) President Donald Trump promised a big announcement Thursday night at his campaign-style rally in West Virginia. The announcement turned out to be the decision by Gov. Jim Justice to switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Trump took credit for the switch, and cast Justice as the leading edge of common-sense populists who are just plain sick of political correctness and the national Democratic Party. For more perspective on Justice's move and how Trump is perceived in the Mountain State, I reached out to one and only Hoppy Kercheval, a radio talk show host -- and columnist -- in the state. Our conversation, conducted via email and lightly edited for flow, is below.

Cillizza: The Jim Justice party switch. How expected or unexpected was it?

Hoppy: The rumors had been circulating for some time. He talked about it with close advisers, wondering if the move would empower him to accomplish more with the Republican majorities in the House of Delegates and the Senate.

But the talk never seemed to go any farther. After all, Justice had just won election as a Democrat a few months earlier. How wise would it be to run as a member of one party, then switch not long after the election?

Additionally, Justice didn't seem to pay much attention to party labels. He didn't fly the Democratic flag during the campaign and during the legislative session he was as apt to bond with Republicans as Democrats. He said party affiliation was not important to him; he just wanted to work with anyone who could make West Virginia better.

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