CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Delegate Doug Reynolds agree on at least one matter.
This has been one ugly race to be elected Attorney General.
The race pits the Republican incumbent Morrisey, who defeated then-incumbent Darrell McGraw four years ago, against Democratic challenger Reynolds, a businessman who represents parts of Cabell and Wayne counties in the House of Delegates.
It’s been a high-profile contest, standing out for its level of spending and the acrimony of its advertising. Here are six notable aspects of the race:
1. Advertising gets personal
Morrisey chafes at Reynolds’ advertisements that mention his wife, Denise Henry, who has been a consultant for Cardinal Health, a prescription drug company the attorney general’s office is suing.
“He reached a new low,” Morrisey said. “I think Doug should apologize for bringing a family member into this race.”
The Intelligencer newspaper in Wheeling has objected to the tone, calling Reynolds out for a “smear” campaign.
Reynolds heats up over a tracker — someone employed by an opposing political party to follow a candidate on the campaign trail — who has followed him around since last spring.
“They have hired him just to harass me,” Reynolds said. “He’s tried to get me to fight him. I’ve been dealing with that since March.”
Reynolds also takes issue with a Morrisey contention that he has used inherited wealth to fund his campaign. There was a whole story in the West Virginia Record with the campaigns using Merriam-Websters Dictionary to define “inherit.”
A Reynolds commercial sums up the tone of the campaign by depicting his family on the couch watching television. When the ads turn ugly, as the ad depicts, the family’s youngest boy aims the remote control at the screen and pushes the off button.
“All the ads, we typically turn them off when whenever they come on,” Reynolds said.
2. Funding
The ads are so fertile in this race because a lot of money is flowing in — $2,319,984.42 in contributions and $1,796,687.69 in spending, according to the most recent campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State’s office.
Spending by the campaigns has been tilted toward Reynolds, according to the campaign finance reports. The Reynolds campaign had pumped $1,459,452.29 into the election effort as of Sept. 30.
Much of the available money has come from Reynolds himself. By the end of October, he had made four loans to his campaign adding up to $1,551,000.
Reynolds also had made personal contributions to his own campaign amounting to $709,630. Plus, he made several in-kind contributions for advertising and food and beverages adding up to $660,691.
All that adds up to about $3 million in available funding from Reynolds’ own pockets.
Morrisey’s campaign bristles that family wealth has trickled from Huntington businessman Marshall Reynolds to his son. Doug Reynolds owns Huntington’s Herald-Dispatch newspaper and is the president of Energy Services of America, a publicly-traded oil and gas service company.
“Doug doesn’t have to work like most of us to achieve things in life,” Morrisey said in an interview last week. “Doug has had things handed to him on a silver platter.”
Reynolds says the money flowing into his campaign is what he has borrowed and earned. He says he has successfully built local businesses and that, at most, a large plot of vacant land in Proctorville, Ohio, was passed on from his family.
“It’s not like I’ve financed my campaign with the lot in Proctorville, Ohio,” he said.
The campaign finance reports filed at the end of September show that Morrisey’s campaign had spent only $328,594. Morrisey has loaned his own campaign $250,000.
Morrisey’s campaign is getting a big assist through heavy spending by the Republican Attorney Generals Association, which is operating as Mountaineers are Always Free PAC.
That group raised and spent more than $76,000 during the primary and then turned up the volume in the general: more than $2,600,000 raised and spent as of Oct. 3.
Morrisey says that group’s involvement was triggered by Reynolds’ spending.
“When people began to see he was attacking me, you saw some of the outside groups come in,” Morrisey said during an appearance on “Decision Makers.”
Reynolds says the outside spending is focused on the race to defend corporate interests.
“Clearly they think there’s going to be a different result if I’m attorney general,” Reynolds said in an interview last week.
Morrisey counters that he can’t help what outside groups do with their spending: “I can’t control what the national group does in terms of their expenditures,” he said last week on “Talkline.” “My campaign is going to be funded the right way.”
3. The Environmental Protection Agency
Morrisey’s office has been active — and has gotten a lot of attention — for its appeals of federal regulations affecting the coal industry. Most notably, Morrisey’s office led the effort to challenge the Clean Power Plan, which would impose emissions limits for the nation’s power plants.
A stay on the rule was issued by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. Just a few weeks ago, a federal appeals court for the D.C. circuit heard arguments in the case.
Reynolds has said he would continue West Virginia’s fights against the EPA in an effort to protect coal jobs.
When the candidates were asked during last week’s impromptu debate on the state Capitol steps if they believe in climate change, Morrisey didn’t answer that part of the question but instead said it’s his office’s responsibility to challenge federal overreach.
“When West Virginia citizens are at risk or laws are being violated, I will step in and I will defend the citizens of our state,” Morrisey said. “We’re going to keep going. We’ve had a lot of success so far and we’re going to see that success continue during my next term.”
Reynolds briefly addressed climate change but agreed that protecting West Virginia jobs is a priority.
“There’s a lot of evidence that there is climate change. The question is, if we all stopped mining coal would it change anything? We need to be protecting our jobs. We need to be looking out for our state.”
4. Opioid abuse
Morrisey inherited lawsuits against 11 prescription drug companies accused of flooding West Virginia with pills from his predecessor, Darrell McGraw. He also filed a new suit against the nation’s top drug wholesaler, McKesson. This past summer, five of the companies agreed to a $4.2 million settlement.
Over the course of his time in office, Morrisey has been hammered with criticism about conflicts of interest. Before Morrisey was elected Attorney General four years ago, much of his experience in private practice in Washington, D.C., focused on work with pharmaceutical companies.
Morrisey says he has recused himself from involvement with the cases. He also says the original lawyers from when the cases were filed under McGraw remain in place.
“I think people know that we handled it right, and we’ve reassured folks we’ve acted with integrity,” Morrisey said. “These are just a few cases out of thousands and thousands and thousands in the office. We have made this a priority because there are too many senseless deaths in our state and we have to address it.”
Morrisey also has taken criticism over his wife’s role at her firm, Capitol Counsel, which has been a lobbyist for Cardinal Health. Morrisey said Denise has not represented Cardinal Health since the end of May.
“What people don’t realize is she represented that company for years and years, long before we got married,” he said.
Reynolds contends too much money is at stake to not have an influence.
“They’re not paying her a million and a half dollars for nothing,” Reynolds said. “To think bringing these people to justice is a priority for him, I think, is laughable.”
In a meeting with Charleston Gazette-Mail editors, which Morrisey didn’t attend, Reynolds said he would make fighting West Virginia’s prescription drug epidemic his top priority: “We’ve got this terrible problem, why is it not being addressed?”
5. Transgender bathrooms
After the Obama administration issued a federal directive that public schools must permit transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity, Morrisey’s office joined other states in filing suit.
“Ideally, the issue is for local teachers and school districts to decide,” Morrisey said. “That’s what we’re trying to accomplish through our litigation. The federal government started this.
“We heard there were a lot of local school districts that were concerned. When it comes to protecting West Virginia jobs or values, I will always stand strong against the Obama administration.
Reynolds says he would have to decide such positions on a case-by-case basis, but he points to this action as an example of overreach by Morrisey’s office.
“I sure wouldn’t go to another state to fight about it,” Reynolds said. “I can’t predict everything about the future, but I don’t think the AG’s office is the place to come up with social policy.
“Every political issue across this country, he sends lawyers to go fight about it. Whether it be restrooms in Texas or wherever. He’s been very active in using our state resources to do that.”
6. Asphalt
Four West Virginia cities filed class action lawsuits earlier this month against West Virginia Paving, claiming that competition had been artificially suppressed, leading to unnaturally high prices. The state Department of Transportation then filed its own lawsuit.
Morrisey’s office has been criticized for not being involved with the DOT’s version of the lawsuit.
During an appearance on “Talkline” and in a follow-up interview for this story, Morrisey said he can’t comment when an investigation is active.
“We’re prohibited under the law from discussing that,” he said. “We care very deeply about these allegations. They’re very serious.”
Reynolds charges Morrisey with knowing about the asphalt allegations for a long time but dragging his feet.
“For over a year they’ve been pushing for him to get involved, and he’s stonewalled it,” Reynolds said. “When it’s politically convenient for him, he’s holding press conferences.”
Early voting in West Virginia runs from Oct. 26 to Nov. 5, and Election Day is Nov. 8.
Reynolds says he’ll be ready for campaign season to be over.
“Absolutely. I can turn on my TV and not have to change it for my kids. I hope.”