Governor’s Appointment To Fill Senate Vacancy Draws Criticism From Democrats

Gov. Patrick Morrisey has filled a vacancy in the state Senate after the departure of Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, earlier this month.

Morrisey announced Thursday he has appointed Zack Maynard to fill the vacancy in West Virginia Senate District 7, made up of parts of Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan and Boone counties. 

Stuart submitted his formal resignation from the state Senate Oct. 9, after the U.S. Senate approved his appointment as general counsel to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

Maynard previously served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2016 to 2022. 

In a press release, West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, criticized Maynard’s appointment due to his business dealings during his time in the House.

“Governor Morrisey’s decision to appoint Zack Maynard to the state Senate is a slap in the face to every honest West Virginian who expects integrity from their leaders,” Pushkin said. “This is someone who turned his seat in the House of Delegates into a springboard for personal profit, and now he’s being rewarded with a promotion.”

Pushkin claims that despite no background in medicine, science, or laboratory management, Maynard founded a private laboratory company that received state start-up funding and was awarded a no-bid contract of more than $10 million from the state to supply COVID-19 test kits.

Morrisey’s release announcing the appointment lists Maynard as “an entrepreneur, family man, and a member of the Guyan Freewill Baptist Church.”