Senate Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Manchin Endorses Wheeling Mayor For US Senate Primary

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., endorsed Mayor of Wheeling Glenn Elliott for the Democratic primary election in this year’s race for the United States Senate.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has endorsed a potential successor in the race for his United States Senate seat.

Manchin released a video Monday announcing his support for Glenn Elliott, the current mayor of Wheeling, in West Virginia’s May 14 Democratic primary election.

“He has the determination, the vigor and vitality to do the work required to be successful in the U.S. Senate here in Washington, D.C.,” Manchin said. “He’ll show up every day to fight for West Virginia to create jobs, grow our economy and make a better life for our people.”

After serving as senator since 2010, Manchin announced he would not seek reelection last November, citing frustrations over a tense partisan divide in Washington.

Manchin’s decision opened the door for new Democratic candidates like Elliott, who are vying to represent their party in the November general election despite the state’s increasingly Republican base. Manchin is the only Democrat currently holding statewide office in West Virginia.

To secure a place in the state’s Nov. 5 general election, Elliott must defeat two opponents in the Democratic primary: former Marine Zach Shrewsbury and former coal executive Don Blankenship.

Elliott said he was “thrilled” by the endorsement, and that his reputation for “working across the aisle” and “getting things done” helped secure Manchin’s support.

“The senator has made very clear he thinks politics in Washington is broken. One of the advantages of being a mayor is — especially wherever a town like Wheeling is — you don’t really have the luxury of letting politics get broken,” he said. “You gotta get things done.”

With this fall’s general election looming, West Virginia’s U.S. Senate race has become a focal point for both the Democratic and Republican parties nationally.

Both chambers of the United States Congress are led by narrow partisan majorities, with Democrats leading in the Senate and Republicans leading in the United States House of Representatives.

Political analysts have predicted that West Virginia will likely flip to a Republican senator in this year’s general election, which would threaten the Democratic Party’s already tenuous Senate majority.

Elliott said that Manchin’s endorsement suggested that “he thinks I’m the best option to keep the Senate seat going forward.”

Now backed by Manchin, Elliott said he hopes his campaign will appeal to West Virginia voters seeking a candidate who can follow through on their needs in Washington.

“We need folks who have a record of getting things done and who are doers,” he said. “I certainly bring that experience and perspective to the race.”

Federal Court Orders Justice-Owned Companies To Pay $8.5 Million

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has enforced a state court decision last year to award Western Surety more than $8.5 million, plus interest.

A federal court has placed liens on several companies owned by Gov. Jim Justice to satisfy a previous state court-ordered judgment.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has enforced a state court decision last year to award Western Surety more than $8.5 million, plus interest.

The federal court placed charging orders, or liens, on Justice Coal of Kentucky, Justice Coal of West Virginia, Justice Management Services, Chestnut Land Holdings, Dublin Land, Twin Fir Estates and Justice Family Farms.

The judgment in favor of Western Surety was issued by the Circuit Court for Fairfax County, Virginia, in September. The award comes with post-judgment interest of 6 percent per annum.

In a separate case in the Western District of Virginia, Western Surety seeks another $3 million from Justice, Bluestone Resources and Southern Coal, alleging breach of contract.

Justice, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, faces numerous legal challenges.

Another bond provider, Federal Insurance Co., sued Justice and four of his companies in June in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking $8.1 million in damages.

Last month, a $1.2 million helicopter was seized from Bluestone Resources to partially satisfy a debt owed to a Caribbean investment firm.

In February, 1st Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, sued Bluestone in the Virginia court, charging breach of contract and seeking $4.5 million in damages.

The complaint accuses Bluestone of defaulting on loan agreements and also seeks attorney’s fees and possession of collateral.

According to the complaint, that collateral consists of “equipment owned by Bluestone Coal” and three properties that are part of the Wintergreen Ski Resort near Charlottesville, Virginia.

New Lawsuit Names Justice, Involves More Properties Near Greenbrier

First Guaranty Bank of Hammond, Louisiana, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia last week against People’s Bank of Marietta, Ohio.

Gov. Jim Justice has been named in a new lawsuit involving multiple banks and claims on two properties adjacent to his Greenbrier Resort.

First Guaranty Bank of Hammond, Louisiana, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia last week against People’s Bank of Marietta, Ohio.

The complaint also names as defendants Carter Bank, the Virginia lender that’s one of Justice’s biggest creditors; three additional West Virginia banks; the Greenbrier Hotel Corporation; the Greenbrier Medical Institute; Justice and the Justice Family Group.

First Guaranty seeks to restore its claim to liens on two properties in Greenbrier County, the Old White Lot and Kate’s Mountain, totaling more than 2,800 acres.

The properties were collateral for a $6 million loan made by a predecessor of People’s Bank, Premier Bank of Ravenswood.

First Guaranty alleges that People’s Bank prepared a document in 2022 without First Guaranty’s knowledge stating that the loan had been paid in full and releasing the liens on the properties.

First Guaranty’s complaint calls the People’s Bank declaration “unauthorized and improper.”

First Guaranty seeks at least $75,000 in damages and for the court to declare that the $6 million has not been paid in full and that the properties have not been released.

It also asks for “further relief as the nature of this cause and the interests of justice may require.”

Justice, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, faces multiple lawsuits in multiple states involving his business empire. The creditors of his numerous companies have sought the repayment of millions of dollars.

Among them, Carter Bank has sought to claim other properties near the Greenbrier Resort as collateral for unpaid loans.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Roanoke, Virginia, ordered Justice’s Bluestone Resources to surrender a helicopter to partially satisfy a debt owed to a Caribbean investment firm.

Manchin, Capito Steer Federal Funds For State Projects In Budget Bill

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, both members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, each released a list of more than 100 projects that will receive federal funding from the budget bill.

West Virginia’s U.S. senators brought home tens of millions of dollars in funding for projects statewide in a budget bill Congress approved late Friday.

They include $12 million to finish a section of Corridor H from Wardensville to the Virginia state line. As well as $10 million to upgrade the water system in the town of West Union.

They also include funding for a farmers’ market in Martinsburg, to upgrade the historic Capitol Market in Charleston and to build the Capital Sports Center nearby.

Fire stations, communications systems, locks and dams, community colleges and universities, military bases, streets and sidewalks, courthouse security and police cruisers will benefit from what used to be called earmarks, now congressionally directed spending.

Manchin’s and Capito’s seats on the Appropriations Committee give West Virginia unusually powerful sway on where and how federal funds are spent.

See Manchin’s list of earmarked projects here.

See Capito’s list here.

Senate Acts In Frustration Over House Inaction On Bills

With four days left in this legislative session, tension between the two chambers is rising. Each chamber is waiting for their prospective bills to be passed by the other chamber before the fast-approaching deadline.

The Senate passed 25 bills Tuesday, about half of which were House bills and the others Senate appropriations bills.

The Senate cruised through the other chamber’s bills like House Bill 4998. It would increase the penalties for the third offense of shoplifting. House Bill 4768 expands a program for out-of-state medical students who receive in-state tuition if they agree to stay in the state and work for the same number of years they received in-state tuition.

However, the process hit a snag when an otherwise non-controversial bill was introduced. House Bill 5002 would require at least one baby changing station to be placed in all men’s bathrooms in rest areas in the state.

Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, opposed the bill. He said this is essentially in retaliation for the House’s failure to advance bills sent over to them from the Senate and urged a no vote.

“None of those bills, or very few, of those bills,” Woelfel said. “based on my review of today’s agenda in the House had been looked at or even examined, much less never, never, showing up on an agenda.”

He said that one of the committees he is part of, the Judiciary Committee, sent 27 bills to the House that have yet to reach the floor.

“What they send us. A bill about changing a poopy diaper at a rest area is a metaphor,” Woelfel said. “I’m sorry, Mr. President, but it’s a pretty good metaphor for how they do business down the hall.”

After a brief discussion between Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley and Majority Leader Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, the bill was parked in Senate Rules, a small but powerful committee responsible for setting the agenda for what bills hit the floor and have a chance to advance.

Constitutional Protection From Euthanasia Could Appear On Ballots This Fall

Republicans in the West Virginia House of Delegates have backed a resolution allowing residents to vote to add protection from euthanasia to the state constitution during this fall’s general election.

Republicans in the West Virginia House of Delegates are calling on their colleagues in the West Virginia Senate to place constitutional protections from euthanasia on voters’ ballots this fall.

Euthanasia, or medically assisted suicide, is already illegal in the state.

With both chambers’ support, House Joint Resolution 28 would allow residents to vote on adding protections against euthanasia to the state constitution during this fall’s general election.

But lawmakers held conflicting views on the measure at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Monday.

Resolution sponsor Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, was invited to speak to senators in committee, stating that the state’s stance against euthanasia is important.

“There’s this phenomenon of nihilism that’s sort of spreading across the country, and I think it’s an important issue we need to address,” McGeehan said. “To the best of my knowledge, we’ll be the first to place this and take a stand in the state constitution.”

While euthanasia prevention received some bipartisan support, pushback on aspects of the bill fell along party lines.

Republican lawmakers wanted to add language to the amendment so it could not affect capital punishment policies.

But Democratic lawmakers like Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, said that contradicts the purported pro-life nature of the resolution.

Woelfel said he supported the resolution generally, but that protecting capital punishment gave him pause. Other lawmakers expressed concern over outright condemning euthanasia.

Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, said he became more sympathetic to legalizing euthanasia after watching his father-in-law suffer through hospice care at the end of his life.

“We was praying for him to die, that’s how much he was suffering. We was literally praying for him to die,” Caputo said. “I know that, if he could have made this decision to end it earlier, he would have done that.”

Caputo also expressed concern that the resolution would hold legal implications for medical professionals, but McGeehan said the measure would not hold legal weight beyond what is already in place in state law.

Ultimately, members of the committee voted in favor of the resolution, sending it to the Senate floor with the recommendation that it pass.

If members of the Senate approve the resolution, West Virginia voters will be able to vote on constitutional protections from euthanasia in the state general election this November.