Cuneyt Dil, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

West Virginia Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Governor's Appointment

The West Virginia Supreme Court gave the green light for the governor’s appointment of a state lawmaker caught in the middle of a Republican dispute.

After a hearing on Tuesday, the court rejected a challenge by officials in Wayne County who alleged Republican Gov. Jim Justice did not follow state law when he filled a vacant seat in the legislature last month.

Republican Del. Joshua Booth will be allowed to assume his duties as a legislator after the court rescinded a block on him taking office. The legislature will begin its annual 60-day session on Wednesday.

The seat was formerly held by Derrick Evans, who resigned after being charged with illegally entering the U.S. Capitol in the Jan. 6 riot with a mob of Donald Trump supporters.

The dispute over Booth’s appointment had fueled a state GOP fracas. The chair of the Wayne County Republican committee, Jeffrey Maynard, lodged the challenge and temporarily succeeded in blocking Booth from taking office. He claimed the head of the state party and Justice intervened to select Booth over three other names the Wayne County Republican Executive Committee had voted on and sent to the governor.

But the Justice administered argued Maynard and local officials failed to follow the correct procedure, allowing the governor to pick a new name sent by the state party’s acting chairman, Roman Stauffer.

West Virginia Solicitor General Lindsay See said the names to fill a delegate seat needed to be sent to the governor from the local party committee of the delegate’s district, rather than of the county.

John Bryan, an attorney representing Maynard, failed to sway the justices that both committees are largely comprised of the same members.

W.Va. Lawmaker Who Resigned Over Slurs Returns To Statehouse

A Republican lawmaker in West Virginia who resigned after posting an anti-gay slur is set to elude political consequences now that he has won back his seat in the Statehouse.

John Mandt stepped down as a House delegate in the heat of his reelection campaign last October after screenshots emerged of him using the slur in a Facebook Messenger group. It had been the latest in a series of discriminatory remarks the state delegate had made about gay people and Muslims.

Then the conservative small business owner reversed his decision to bow out of the race, going on to win re-election to represent Cabell County. The November election produced a supermajority for Republicans in the legislature after several upset victories over Democrats. Lawmakers open a 60-day session on Feb. 10.

The Republican House speaker, Roger Hanshaw, has changed his stance on Mandt. In October, he had declared bigotry has no place in the state and said Mandt had taken the “the best course of action” in resigning.

Now that Mandt is back, Hanshaw picked him to be vice chair of the committee on small businesses and economic development. He did not say Mandt would face any repercussions.

“I don’t know what I can say, beyond Delegate Mandt does have committee assignments,” Hanshaw said Wednesday.

Mandt also will serve on committees that deal with energy and manufacturing, substance abuse, and senior, children, and family issues.

The owner of a hot dog vendor popular in Huntington, Mandt had a first term marked by controversies.

In 2019, he took to Facebook to attack a vigil honoring the victims of a mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand. “Anything Muslim is going to be associated with Democrats. It’s better to stay away than be associated with them,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Hundreds denounced his comments in a petition calling on Marshall University to cut ties with the restaurant Mandt owns, Stewart’s Original Hot Dogs. The university’s food contractor soon after dropped his business.

“When people get badgered or you are called a bigot, racist or a hater, I am none of those things but those things are said to try and discourage you from what you are doing,” he told WV Metro News at the time.

Screenshots of Mandt using a gay slur in a Facebook Messenger group chat in early October prompted his resignation. He first claimed his comments were fabricated, then said he meant them as a joke.

“I do apologize if anything was put out there that hurt any of you watching this right now,” Mandt told news channel WSAZ at the time. But he said his social media posts shouldn’t preclude him from serving if he won. He finished third among six candidates in a contest that gave the top three vote-getters seats in the 16th District.

He did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Mandt has described himself as “Pro-God.” And he has tangled with advocates for the LGBT community.

He has opposed a measure to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and in the public sphere. Similar protections exist in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

But the proposal, known as the Fairness Act, has picked up more support since Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo co-introduced it in 2019. Republican Gov. Jim Justice said in a candidates’ debate last year that he would sign the bill if it passes.

Del. Joshua Higginbotham, a Republican from Putnam County, announced on Twitter last week he would be the lead sponsor of the legislation.

West Virginia Supreme Court To Weigh In On Legality Of Governor's Appointment

The West Virginia Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked a newly appointed state lawmaker from assuming his duties while it considers a challenge to the legality of his appointment.

Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced on Wednesday that he had picked Joshua Booth, a political neophyte and executive at a family-run road contracting firm, to fill the Wayne County seat in the House of Delegates. The chair of the county GOP committee, Jeff Maynard, went to court alleging Justice did not follow the law when he picked Booth over three other candidates put forth by local Republican officials.

The office was formerly held by Derrick Evans, who resigned after he was charged with illegally entering the U.S. Capitol with a mob of Donald Trump supporters on Jan. 6.

The court ordered Justice to file a response to Maynard’s petition by next Monday. It also set oral arguments in the case for Feb. 9 at 2 p.m.

Booth would serve the remaining two years of Evans’ term. Delegates make $20,000 annually, plus a per diem. The 60-day session starts Feb. 10.

“I would like to thank Governor Justice for his faith in me to help the effort to bring jobs and prosperity to Wayne County, West Virginia,” Booth said in a statement.

In his court filing, Maynard said the governor was sent a list of three candidates for the vacancy on Jan. 13. The lawsuit says Justice’s counsel, Brian Abraham, informed Maynard that the governor would draw up a different list because local officials voted on their candidates without the participation of the head of the state Republican party, Roman Stauffer.

Maynard alleges the second list was composed of two of the original candidates and Booth instead of Jay Marcum, a candidate for the same seat in the 19th Delegate District in the 2020 Republican primary.

Justice disputed concerns over the legality of his pick on Wednesday, saying he has been in “constant contact” with the state attorney general’s office on the matter.

Booth is vice president of Highway Safety Inc., a family-owned traffic safety and road work firm based in Huntington. A biography put out by the governor’s office did not reference any political history. It said he graduated from Marshall University and has served on the board of the Contractors Association of West Virginia.

The website for Highway Safety, Inc. says it was founded in 1992 and holds a certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise license in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia for federally funded road work projects. The license gives small firms that are economically and socially disadvantaged a leg-up in bidding for contracts.

“I believe I am as Wayne County as they come, and as such, I think that I share the viewpoints and experiences of my fellow residents,” Booth said in his statement.

Stauffer, who served as campaign manager for Justice’s reelection bid, did not return Twitter messages seeking comment. He ascended to acting chair of the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee on Jan. 11 with the resignation of Melody Potter, who said she needed time to care for her ailing parents.

W.Va. Begins Drive To Vaccinate All Nursing Homes In Weeks

West Virginia is rapidly deploying doses of the coronavirus vaccine to residents and workers at long-term care centers, setting an ambitious target of vaccinating all facilities within three weeks.

The state with one of the oldest and most at-risk populations is prioritizing its care center residents alongside health workers. Officials are working with small and local pharmacies to reach long-term care communities across the rural state, leapfrogging most states that are relying on a partnership with CVS and Walgreens to kick in any day now.

“We’re making progress towards being the first in the nation to vaccinate all nursing homes and assisted livings in our state,” said Marty Wright, head of the West Virginia Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes and assisted living communities.

Wright said nearly 2,000 doses were administered to workers and residents across 18 care centers on Tuesday. He said pharmacies expect to reach 48 facilities and get 7,000 doses into arms by the end of the week. That would mean about a quarter of the state’s facilities would have received the first of two required doses.

The West Virginia National Guard said that people at Sundale Nursing Home in Morgantown, the first facility in the state to report a COVID-19 outbreak in March, received vaccinations on Tuesday.

Deaths at U.S. nursing homes have accounted for about 40% of all coronavirus deaths.

“The current objective, on long-term care facilities getting the first dose of the vaccine, would be no longer than 30 days,” Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, head of the National Guard, said this week. “But we believe we can accomplish it in potentially three weeks with perfect coordination with our long-term care facilities.”

The state surpassed 1,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 this week and reported 27 more on Wednesday. There are 21,260 active cases of the virus in the state and hospitalizations have recently reached record highs. The daily positivity rate has increased to 10.27%, far above what health officials hope for.

The state has recorded a total of 55,536 confirmed cases and at least 1,039 deaths.

Gov. Jim Justice and four top officials received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine live on camera on Monday. He said he wanted to demonstrate the safety of the vaccine, even as many other governors wait for their turn in line behind first responders.

West Virginia expects to receive tens of thousands of doses a week initially, ramping up in the future as Moderna looks to soon gain federal emergency use authorization for its vaccine.

West Virginia Releases Plan For Vaccine As Cases Pile Up

West Virginia unveiled a draft plan on Wednesday for rolling out a coronavirus vaccine, starting with medical workers and gradually bringing it to other essential workers and to the general public at sites such as drive-thru venues.

As cases continued to pile up in the state, Gov. Jim Justice ruled out any new shutdowns on businesses and other public life for now. He said additional restrictions would only come if the state starts seeing many more deaths due to COVID-19. He most recently tightened an indoor mask requirement at all public settings.

He said he would prefer students stay in classrooms in counties with smaller outbreaks, bucking a request from the state’s largest teachers group to go virtual-only through year’s end.

The state reported 717 new confirmed cases on Wednesday and 14 new deaths, bringing its total to at least 36,722 cases and 612 fatalities since the pandemic began. Weekly tallies of new cases are sharply up.

“We’re not going to shut anything down, unless this thing continues to get worse and worse,” the Republican governor said at a news conference. He said rumors by some of his conservative critics that he wants to shut down businesses are “hogwash.”

Justice has urged residents to wear masks and get tested regularly in order to stem outbreaks until a vaccine arrives.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources submitted its early plan to administer coronavirus shots to the Centers for Disease Control this week. The first batch of limited vaccines would go to staff at long-term care centers, emergency medical personnel and hospital workers.

Those at the highest risk for severe complications from the virus, including people 65 and older, would receive access as supply increases later in the state’s phase 1 rollout.

West Virginia would dole out doses to counties most in need based on the size of their vulnerable populations. The state has one of the largest populations of elderly residents and people with underlying conditions.

Pfizer said Wednesday that its vaccine is 95% effective, safe and protects older people most at risk of dying. The company and its German partner BioNTech plan to seek emergency U.S. approval for the shot within days. Moderna Inc. similarly said earlier this week its vaccine is 94.5% effective.

Meanwhile, West Virginia University announced it is taking all undergraduate instruction online for the rest of the fall semester due to rising cases.

Six counties have voluntarily decided to move to virtual-only instruction for public schools despite meeting the state’s metrics for in-person instruction. Seventeen additional counties don’t meet requirements due to severe virus spread.

West Virginia Governor Does Not Acknowledge Biden As Election Winner

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday refused to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the presidential election, four days after the race was called and despite no evidence yet from Republicans of widespread voter fraud.

“As far as acknowledging that the election is over, I do not do that,” said Justice, an ally of President Donald Trump.

He vowed to support Biden if legal challenges and any potential recounts do not change the outcome of the race call.

“If Joe Biden is truly our legally elected president of the United States, we should all celebrate and support him,” he said.

Justice spoke at his regularly scheduled coronavirus news briefing where officials decried the state shattering records for new cases. Biden’s transition team has formed a task force on fighting the pandemic and has doubled down on wearing masks and testing, two areas of common ground between the president-elect and the Republican governor.

Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election on Nov. 7 after flipping Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. In fact, election officials from both political parties have stated publicly that the election went well and international observers confirmed there were no serious irregularities.

West Virginia overwhelmingly backed Trump’s reelection bid with about 69% of the vote and elected about a dozen new state Republicans to office in the recent election. Justice was reelected for a second and final term with about 65% support.