10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

Historic court election in West Virginia

West Virginia’s 2020 Primary Election Day is two weeks from today.  Because of no-excuse absentee voting due to the pandemic, thousands of West Virginians have already voted.  Many more will take advantage of traditional early voting which starts tomorrow.

All the options add up to what is expected to be a large turnout.

Most of the races are for party nominations. However, the Primary serves as the election for judges, who now run in nonpartisan races.  None of those races is more critical that West Virginia Supreme Court.

Three of five seats are up—two 12-year terms and one unexpired 4-year term.   So, one way to look at the races is that 28 years of service on the court are at stake. Another is that the majority of the five-member court is on the line.

The races are wide open.  Sitting Justice Tim Armstead has two challengers, former Justice Richard Neely and 2nd Circuit Court (Marshall, Tyler, Wetzel) Judge David Hummel, in Division One.

Division Two has four candidates vying for the seat coming open because of the retirement of Justice Margaret Workman: Putnam County Assistant Prosecutor Kris Raynes, lawyer and former long-time legislator Bill Wooten, Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit and Kanawha Family Court Judge Jim Douglas.

Division Three is for the unexpired four-year term of Allen Loughry, who resigned in 2018 following his conviction related to the scandal on the State Supreme Court.   The candidates are current Justice John Hutchison, who Governor Justice appointed after Loughry’s resignation, 5th Circuit Court (Jackson, Mason, Calhoun, Roane) Judge Lora Dyer and Kanawha County attorney Bill Schwartz.

Ten candidates for three seats.  That is a lot for voters to try and sort out, especially when there are limitations on what the candidates are able to say.

For example, judicial candidates typically will not comment on cases and/or issues that may come before the court because that stated position may disqualify them at some future time.

Also, the political party of a candidate usually gives voters some idea of the philosophy of a candidate, but since these judicial elections are non-partisan, voters do not even have that to go by.

Yes, candidates can and do advertise and media are doing in-depth stories about the race.  Our Brad McElhinny has already posted stories about the Division One and Division Two races and a profile of Division Three is coming.

In addition, I am interviewing each of the candidates on Talkine from now until the election.  Those interviews will then be posted on our website.

But also, voters are going to have to do a little homework, check out the candidate websites, ask around, perhaps ask a trusted attorney for their input.

West Virginia’s Supreme Court is coming off a humiliating scandal that led to the impeachment of five Justices in 2018.  Only one of those Justices is remaining on the Court—Beth Walker—and she is not up for re-election.

The ordeal served as a stark reminder that it matters who we, as voters, put in positions of power, and now with a majority on the court at stake, this election is pivotal to the direction of West Virginia.

 

 

 

 

 





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