Patrick Morrisey and incumbent Darrell McGraw had a spirited race last year for West Virginia Attorney General.
McGraw refused to debate Morrisey, who he considered an interloper because of his recent relocation to West Virginia.
Morrisey thought McGraw part of the old-line Democratic regime in West Virginia that needed to be retired.
Morrisey prevailed, but the transition of the AG’s office from McGraw to Morrisey has been rough.
In interviews, Morrisey has tried to focus on the future, but when pressed on Metronews Talkline this week, he said, “We inherited a pretty big mess and we’re working diligently to fix it. It’s an even greater challenge than we imagined.”
Morrisey and others describe the office as disorganized, with no central system to track pending lawsuits and other legal action.
“That’s just not how you run a railroad,” Morrisey told me. “We’re instituting basic management practices to make sure that the state gets the best possible legal representation.”
But Fran Hughes, the former long-time Deputy Attorney General, who largely ran the office for McGraw, calls that “poppycock.”
“I believe we have provided him with an updated list of all the cases,” Hughes said on Metronews Talkline Thursday. “We’ve tried to make this a smooth transition from the very beginning.”
Hughes says she met with Morrisey team members one day after the election, but Morrisey’s people say they were denied space in the AG’s office during the transition to become familiar with the office.
Now, Morrisey’s team says they have to work night and day just to set up what they consider a functioning law office. In some cases, I’m told, staff voice mail service hasn’t worked for months.
Actually, that’s an area where the old and new administrations appear to agree: the dearth of the latest technology in the AG’s office. In McGraw’s defense, he often had an adversarial relationship with the Legislature, which made it hard for him to get money for computer upgrades.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Hughes is a professional, and so are the top people Morrisey has hired so far. A simple phone call would work wonders. Hughes could offer to answer any questions Morrisey has or Morrisey’s people could pick her brain.
After all, the office did not belong to McGraw, nor does it belong to Morrisey. It, like every other elected office, belongs to the people. As Hughes told me Thursday, “We want him (Morrisey) to succeed because West Virginians will lose if he doesn’t.”
And now that everyone has gotten their frustrations off their chests, the best way for that to happen is for the two sides to work together to smooth out the bump in this transition.
9
Comments
mntnman
Work together? HAHAHAHA! The egos are so large here that there is no room large enough for them to all fit into. Call and ask questions? Offer help? Instead we get the ole classic blame others for your own failings. And we get the classic sore loser. Just another example of how putting self and politics before WV can sink the ship of state. Lets hope this is not a sign of things to come.
February 1, 2013 at 12:30 am | Report comment
ShinnstonGuy
I didn't vote for either one in this case, but my hunches so far are that Patrick is correct. I imagine the office is tremendously out of date, and I further believe it was probably left in mess by the outgoing administration. Despite the statement that budget cuts were the culprit, most of us get set in our ways so I am going to guess the "politician for life" McGraw didn't want to change because he couldn't imagine ever being out of office.
I have come to conclude that on the state level, Republicans have not made gains because of their message, but because folks are sick of the state's Democrats believing they are infallible and untouchable. If these D's can't do something for the people, then I won't feel sorry for them when they lose.
February 1, 2013 at 6:23 am | Report comment
zerotolerance
My attorney friends in Charleston continue to wince with every move Morrissey makes. They are beside themselves that Big D and his cronies are no longer there to handle things with a "wink" and a "nod".
February 1, 2013 at 7:52 am | Report comment
Hop'sHip
I suspect it will be the flimflam artists who will be "winking and nodding" now. Either way, the general public gets screwed.
February 1, 2013 at 8:17 am | Report comment
thornton
One does not hear "poppycock" enough these days and may speak directly to the antique nature of the former AG's office and operation.
Might I suggest that Fran introduce balderdash into her repertoire as well.
A new broom should sweep clean.
February 1, 2013 at 9:03 am | Report comment
Hop'sHip
Hogwash!
February 1, 2013 at 9:22 am | Report comment
wirerowe
Don't cry for me mountain mamma. General McGraw and Jorea will together receive $180,000 in retirement. Over the years with the exception of a few gremlins here and there the Board of Public Works including the AG have been rendered non players with the Governor's Office increasingly consolidating power. Each of those offices have some oversight but it is not significant. There is a little different twist that we have a republican AG. But we have not had a strong independent and relevant AG for some time and I think it will be difficult for a republican to recreate that type of influence.
February 1, 2013 at 11:47 am | Report comment
Darius
I've dealt with some of McGraws employees (cronies) in the retail businesses in Charleston. When their doing business with companies, they always made sure you knew they worked for McGraws AG office. Always implying they deserved preferential treatment. Good riddens.
February 1, 2013 at 7:44 pm | Report comment
Jim
"...Fran Hughes, the former long-time Deputy Attorney General, who largely ran the office for McGraw..." Ms. Hughes was the defacto AG of WV. I believe that Warren was so out of touch he had to rely on her and she made the most of it. What time Darrel did spend in the office or "in the field" was campaigning. He was a regular on the monthly Kanawha and Putnam Counties," Buisness After Hours" a social "press the flesh" event sponosored by the respective chamber of commerce and Darrel sure did like the refreshment stand. "Wink, wink."
As to Ms. Huges, I never saw her attend these events, I suspect she was back at the office trying to make Darrel look good as AG. I did, however, watch her a few times on the Charleston Public Access Channel, hosting the AG office's program. I only watched it few times because Ms. Hughes came accross as extremely arrogant and pompus and that was on TV, I could only imagine what she was like 1 on 1. The arrogance had to boil over then.
February 1, 2013 at 10:17 pm | Report comment