Candidates Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

A Conversation About Candidate Disclosures, Ethics On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Gov. Jim Justice filed his Senate candidate financial disclosure form last month. We hear from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington about the limitations of candidate disclosures.

On this West Virginia Morning, Gov. Jim Justice filed his Senate candidate financial disclosure form last month. We hear from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington about the limitations of candidate disclosures.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

2024 Gubernatorial Candidates Join In Political Forum

The four leading Republican candidates on the 2024 primary ballot were asked about West Virginia’s declining population, size of government, education and tourism.

Speaking before the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce summit at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, and a live television audience, the four leading Republican candidates on the 2024 primary ballot were asked about West Virginia’s declining population, size of government, education and tourism.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said he was studying what works in neighboring states and would implement that information in a first 100-day plan.

“We’re going to make sure that on the issue of taxation, on the issue of regulation, on the issue of licensing, on the issue of workforce, West Virginia is going to win against all those states,” Morrisey said.

Candidate Chris Miller owns the Dutch Miller Auto Group. Miller said the state needs to improve its technological efficiency and leverage its rich natural resources.

“We have an abundance of coal, we have an abundance of natural gas, we also now have the potential for nuclear energy, and we have this incredible amount of water,” Miller said. “Why don’t we use that as the foundation for all of our economic growth and development.”

House of Delegates Judiciary Committee Chair Moore Capito described himself as an architect of the legislative supermajority and said local leaders know best.

“When I’m governor, we’re going to start off on day one by entering into an engagement tour where we go to every single local and county government and talk to them about what they need,” Capito said.

Secretary of State Mac Warner said he was the sole veteran and teacher in a race where he has the widest range of experience.

“I’m an Eagle Scout, graduate of West Point, WVU College of Law, I hold two master’s degrees,” Warner said. “I have lived a life of service both in the military and with the U.S. State Department.”

All four candidates said education would be a priority.

Warner said in his experience at West Point, they posted your grade point average weekly in every subject, and that was an inspiration to work harder. He said as governor, he would extend that accountability.

“I propose we do look at ratings of some sort,” Warner said. “But deal with the professionals, determine what is the best form of the rating system, and then watch it, benchmark it and then see whether we approve or not.”

Morrisey defended his work in expanding school choice. He said as governor he would expand it even further.

“I want to make sure that money follows the child much more aggressively,” Morrisey said. “West Virginia will always have the broadest school choice law in the country, that’s number one. Number two, we’re going to have to build on the success of charter schools, we need to do things differently.”

Capito said teachers are overwhelmed with so many things that they weren’t trained to do. He said the state should continue to provide more supplemental help in our early education classrooms.

“We know that kids learn to read from the time they’re born to the third grade and then they read to learn from then on,” Capito said. “If they’re not reading to learn after third grade, we’re falling behind. So let’s put tools in place to succeed and they’ll reward success.”

Miller said the state education system is too administratively “top heavy.”

“We need to get rid of this big, bloated layer of bureaucracy that soaks up all the resources before the money flows down into the classroom,” Miller said. “We need to focus on making the kids’ lives better, to focus on making sure they have all the resources that they need.”

One Republican candidate will emerge when voters cast their ballots. No Democrat has declared to run yet, but Huntington Mayor Steve Williams has given indications he will soon announce his candidacy.

The 2024 West Virginia Primary is May 14th.

Senate Bill Requires Political Candidates Swear To Residency

A bill that changes how candidates for office across the state announce their intention to run drew close to an hour of discussion on the Senate floor Tuesday.

Senate Bill 541 is simply titled “Providing for Election Reform.” It creates a requirement that, as part of their certificate of announcement, a candidate swears they are legally qualified to seek and hold the office sought.

Senate Judiciary Chair Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, used filing to run for Senate as an example. He noted the bill would require the Secretary of State to include the specific qualifications for each elected position on the relevant certificate of announcement form.

“When you file your certificate of announcement to run for office for the Senate of West Virginia, you’re going to have to swear under oath that you’re a minimum age of 25. That’s what our Constitution requires,” Trump said.

“That you’ve been a resident of the state for five years, that’s what our Constitution requires,” he continued. “That you’ve been a resident of the district in which you’re running for a year. What we’re asking the Secretary of State to do is, for each certificate of announcement, for each office, delineate what those statutory or constitutional criteria are. The bill requires that you certify that when you make your announcement.”

The new requirement stems from the case of a candidate in the 2022 Republican primary for the state’s 8th Senate District who was placed on the ballot but was ruled by a court to not meet the minimum residency requirement for the position.

A judge ordered that votes for the candidate not be counted, sparking claims of judicial interference in the election process.

Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, asked about the bill’s new limitation on suits regarding election eligibility. The bill would require suits be resolved before absentee ballots are distributed or be dismissed without prejudice.

“Around the polling places around the state, a court required signs to go up and say that your vote for a candidate who is on the existing ballot cannot be counted,” Tarr said. “As they interfered in that election, if we vote yes, would it prohibit the court from interfering in that way once a candidate is on the ballot?”

Trump said that in the case of the 2022 election, the court decision was rendered after the absentee ballots were distributed, something that the bill seeks to amend.

“If this bill were operative now, with the same time frames that occurred in that case, I think the answer would be the court would have to dismiss the case and wait until after the primary election had occurred,” Trump said.

Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, also stood to clarify that if the bill passed, a candidate who is found to not meet requirements could face criminal prosecution.

“I believe it will cut down on situations where people are playing fast and loose with their residency,” he said. “It was a very vague area of the law, very vague. Now, you’re going to swear on a document executed and tendered to the Secretary of State and made a public record, you’re going to swear an oath that you have lived in that district for one year. And if you have not, you’re subject to a criminal prosecution.”

The bill passed on a vote of 28 to 5, with one Senator absent and now goes to the House of Delegates for its consideration.

Walker Wins First Nonpartisan Election to the W.Va. Supreme Court

After losing a close race in 2008, Morgantown attorney Beth Walker has come back to win the first nonpartisan election to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. She did it with substantial backing from outside groups.

Beth Walker and her immediate family watched the results from her lakeside home just outside Morgantown. She held a strong lead from the beginning but was hesitant to call the race until it was clear her lead wasn’t going to fade.

That’s when her phone began dinging steadily with texts and tweets of congratulations.

“I’m just so grateful to everyone who’s helped and all the voters of West Virginia who have obviously shown some trust and confidence in me being able to serve in the next twelve years on the Supreme Court,” Walker said.

This year is the first time judges were elected on a nonpartisan basis. It’s also the first time the Supreme Court candidates were decided in the Primary Election.

Walker says she supports the nonpartisan election of Supreme Court judges and plans to carry out her term in a similar way.

“The entire campaign we’ve talked about the importance of the rule of law,” she noted, “and that’s going to be my first priority is that and taking politics out of the court. You know, we’ve made an excellent step forward I think as West Virginia electing judges as a nonpartisan election, and I plan to take that onto the court with the commitment to the best I can, at least as one justice to take politics out of the court.”

It may have been a nonpartisan election, but partisan groups poured money into TV ads supporting Walker and attacking fellow candidates Darrell McGraw and Bill Wooton. The Republican State Leadership Committee – Judicial Fairness Initiative and other groups dropped about $2 million on the campaign.

Walker beat current justice Brent Benjamin who released a statement saying, “This race had unique difficulties for the candidates. To prevail was not an easy thing.”

Former Attorney General Darrell McGraw came in at a distant second. He declined to comment on the results.

Walker is now the third woman to ever serve on the state’s highest court. She joins Justices Margaret Workman and Robin Davis – meaning the state’s Supreme Court has a female majority for the first time.

Former State Legislator & Longtime Attorney, Wooton Runs for W.Va. Supreme Court

Bill Wooton is a former legislator who held office for 26 years, but has been a practicing attorney for almost 45. Now he wants to add the title of Supreme Court Justice to his name.

Wooton’s resume is a long one. Raised in Beckley, he graduated from Marshall University in 1966 and got his law degree from West Virginia University in 1971.

Wooton became a clerk for a judge on the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the fourth circuit, then an assistant attorney general, followed by nearly 3 years as a prosecutor.

Wooton resigned from his job as prosecutor to run for the West Virginia State Legislature.

“I served in the Legislature a total of 26 years,” Wooton said, “Ended up being majority leader at one time in the House of Delegates and I served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Legislature for 10 years. My service began with the 1976 election, and I was last in the Legislature in 2010.”

Wooton has also spent years in private practice, where his work continues today. But it was during his time as a lawmaker that Wooton realized being a judge was his dream.

“A friend of mine told me I acted more like a judge than a legislator. I was chairman of a committee, and in that role, you pretty well try to achieve some measure of fairness; let people have their say in favor of a measure or opposed to the measure, and you know, she said that to me, and it kind of stuck with me, and I thought, well that’s really what I’ve always wanted to do,” he explained.

Wooton is one of two candidates using the public campaign financing system to fund his judicial race. The program is only available to Supreme Court candidates who meet various requirements to receive the $500,000 in taxpayer funding. While some of his competitors are adamantly against the system, Wooton defends it.

“I think most members of the public appreciate the reason why the Legislature enacted the statute,” he noted, “It’s intended to lessen the impact of enormous sums of outside money, and I think most members of the public appreciate that. I think if you have a case that goes before the Supreme Court, you’ll feel better about it if you’re aware that no judge was elected with overwhelming financial contribution from your opponent.”

Wooton fought for his belief and his participation in the program when another Supreme Court candidate, Beth Walker, sued his campaign.

“I believe that what she did in my case was a quote, frivolous lawsuit,” he said, “I think it was a tactical effort to impede my campaign.”

In the lawsuit, Walker’s campaign argued Wooton failed to meet certain filing deadlines and the State Election Commission erred in awarding him public money. Wooton argues the basis of her complaint was a minor technical violation.

“There’s a statute that has certain deadlines in it, and every deadline in that law I met,” he explained, “The administrative agency charged with enforcing the law, on their own, decided to put some additional deadlines in regulation, not in the law, and shame on me, I did not carefully study the regulations.”

Wooton says the regulations require candidates to file a formal request for the money within two business days of being certified by the State Election Commission as eligible for the program. He filed his on the third day. After the lawsuit against his campaign and another against fellow candidate Brent Benjamin over the regulations, Wooton expects the SEC will revisit the program guidelines.

And he says he’s also been attacked for another part of the judicial election process – partisanship.

This is the first time a judicial election has been non-partisan in West Virginia and the first time all judicial officers will be elected during the May 10 primary. Wooton says he has mixed feelings about the change. He’s concerned a candidate could be elected with less than 50 percent of the vote — because of the vote being split between five candidates.

“I don’t know what the Legislature’s intent was. I suspect that was an unintended consequence,” Wooton said, “I think the public is best served by a person elected by a majority of the voters.”

And in recent weeks, negative ads have appeared on television stations across the state claiming Wooton and fellow Supreme Court candidate Darrell McGraw are part of an “old boy network” in state government. A news release from the Wooton campaign says the ads were funded by more than $500,000 of outside money provided by a special interest group. And the end of each TV ad calling Wooton out, says it’s paid for by the Republican State Leadership Committee – Judicial Fairness Initiative.

Wooton https://vimeo.com/164430717″>responded to the negative ads with an ad of his own attacking the special interest group.

“The very people who wanted this election to be non-partisan, now are injecting partisanship into the election,” he noted.

With Primary Day on May 10 fast approaching, Wooton is hopeful he’ll win the seat. He says he’s the best choice for the Supreme Court, because public service has been a major part of his life.

“I think that the experiences and the abilities that I have, such as they may be, ideally qualify me to be a justice on the Supreme Court of Appeals,” Wooton said, “I think it’s the culmination of the sum total of my life’s work.”

First-Time Candidate, King Runs for W.Va. Supreme Court

Wayne King is an attorney from Clay County and one of five candidates running for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals. King is known for being outspoken on many issues, but perhaps most for his opposition to public campaign financing.

Wayne King grew up in Belle, West Virginia, but has lived in Clay for the last 45 years. At age 71, he’s still working as a full-time attorney since graduating from West Virginia University College of Law in 1971. Now, he’s running for the West Virginia Supreme Court. King says he’s been contemplating a run for the last twelve years.

“I noted more of a sense of arrogance in the judiciary,” King said, “and I believe that, in discussing with my wife, I decided that I would try to tell my story being a down at home, commonsense, country lawyer and run for the Supreme Court.”

A first-time candidate who has only raised around $200 in donations, King says those things haven’t stopped him from trying.

“It’s better to try to do something and give it your best shot, then wake up five years from now and say, why didn’t I do it?”

King has been a prosecuting attorney and a family law master and has a practice currently focused on court appointed work, which he says gives him a wide range of experience.

“It gives me a chance to be in court and be on my feet all the time, and it’s a challenge to think and go head-to-head with the best lawyers in West Virginia and also to try to match wits with very intelligence and well-trained judges,” he said.

Much of King’s time is spent representing children in abuse or neglect cases. He says this work is important to him, because he’s an advocate for children and it’s an area his family is involved in on a personal level.

“There’s hundreds and thousands of kids in West Virginia that need stability in their home life,” King noted, “and course, my daughter was a foster parent out in California for some ten years, and actually fostered about fifteen children until she finally was able to adopt a young baby named Tabitha, that’s our granddaughter, and so just seeing the opportunity to help not only children, but also represent fathers and mothers in those cases certainly is challenging.”

King has often cited the fact that he’s received more ethics complaints than all his opponents combined. But King says that’s a strength – it means when it comes to defending his client or being a prosecutor, he won’t back off.

“I’m the lawyer you want to take into court with you, because I’ll give it my best shot,” he said, “Sometimes people don’t like that. I do have ethics complaints, I’m not afraid to hide ‘em. I was censored once and suspended once, but I think they were wrong.”

This year’s Supreme Court race for the first time is non-partisan. King says it’s not a bad idea but needs tweaking because the state could end up with a Justice who received less than 50 percent of the vote.

“That’s just not right,” King explained, “A justice to the Supreme Court should be elected by at least a majority of the people, and if no one gets the majority in the primary, the top two should run off. In addition, if we’re going to start public financing and non-partisan things, then possibly Supreme Court justices should only be able to serve one term.”

The candidate has also been outspoken on his stance against the public campaign financing system. Two of King’s opponents are running their campaign on public dollars.

“I just think it’s an embarrassment to ask the average citizens of West Virginia in these tough economic times to take on that burden,” he said, “I also have said that I would not, when elected, during the twelve years that I serve, turn in any vouchers for costs. I think that I can pay my own way as justice of the Supreme Court and not accept any reimbursement for any expenses I incur.”

King has loaned around $13,000 of his own money to his campaign. He says he thinks voters will favor him over the other candidates because he’s real.

“I feel that if people listen to me and meet me one-on-one, my friends tell people how I practice law and my background and how I treat people fairly,” King explained, “and easy to get along with outside the courtroom, not necessarily inside the courtroom, but just I feel that once those ideas and those thoughts go up and down the hollers here in West Virginia, the streets of the cities, and everything else that my name will be well-known, and I think I have a lot of friends anyway across the state of West Virginia, and we’ll just see what turns out.”

This year, West Virginia voters have only one chance to vote for a Supreme Court Justice and all other judicial officers and that’s during the state’s primary election. Early voting is underway and Primary Day is May 10.