CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Bray Cary has transformed from Jim Justice’s most prominent critic into the governor’s right-hand man.
His journey has generated controversy.
“Sometimes it seems like he’s running the governor’s office,” said state Senator Randy Smith, a Republican from Tucker County. “I don’t think the governor’s got time to run the governor’s office, and I think Bray is sometimes running the office for him.”
Such comments aren’t uncommon among observers assessing Cary’s role.
“I’m not sure what his role really is,” said Delegate John Kelly, a Republican from Wood County. “I’m not sure why he’s even there.”
Cary’s title is senior adviser.
He does not appear among the top staff pictured on the governor’s official website. He began late last year as a high-profile volunteer. Then, late last week, he popped onto the payroll at $8.75 an hour.
The change was made to mitigate confusion, said Brian Abraham, the governor’s chief counsel.
Cary doesn’t want a big salary or benefits, Abraham said, but a paycheck might provide some clarity about his presence in the governor’s office.
“As we saw a need arise for him to interact with agencies or outside the office, we didn’t want to continue to create the confusion,” Abraham said. “We thought it would be better to make it an official position.”
Cary may not need big pay from the governor’s office. He has another prominent role as a board member for EQT, which is one of West Virginia’s major natural gas producers. He draws six-figure compensation and stock options from that role.
There is a listing for Cary among EQT’s board members but the biography does not include his role in the West Virginia governor’s office. Instead, the bio focuses on Cary’s earlier high-profile position as chief of West Virginia Media Holdings.
At West Virginia’s state Capitol, scrutiny has grown for Cary as he has evolved from Justice detractor to essential staffer. Questions also continue over how he can balance an increasingly central position in the governor’s office with his relationship with EQT, which is subject to state policies and regulations.
Cary didn’t respond to invitations to comment for this story through his cell phone and through the communications staff with the Justice administration.
EQT also did not respond to a request to comment on the balance Cary must strike now that his governmental role is more official. The last time EQT commented, Cary was still a volunteer in the governor’s office.
“This volunteer work for the state does not conflict with Mr. Cary’s duties as a member of EQT’s board of directors,” EQT said last December. “We applaud him for volunteering his valuable time to help move West Virginia forward.”
Transition
As then-Democrat Jim Justice and Republican Bill Cole campaigned for governor in 2016, Cary stood out for comments critical of Justice on the “Decision Makers” program he then hosted.
He went after Justice, a prominent businessman, for unpaid bills and taxes. “These bills go back years. It’s willful, and it’s wrong,” Cary said on statewide television the week before that year’s election.
Cary, whose own party registration is unaffiliated, also donated $250,000 to the Republican Governor’s Association, which was backing Cole, then West Virginia’s state Senate president.
At one point, the Justice campaign was refusing to deal with the reporters from the State Journal newsroom under Cary’s West Virginia Media organization because of the tension that had grown.
“They were on opposite sides of the election and put that aside,” the current Senate president, Mitch Carmichael, said of Cary and Justice.
Carmichael, a Republican, has been tight with Cary, a fellow Jackson County resident who he met more than a decade ago when both were jogging one Saturday morning at Ripley High School.
Carmichael played the biggest role in the current connection between Cary and Justice.
By the time the 2017 legislative session rolled around and Justice was settling into the governor’s office, Cary had sold most of his television interests. More and more, he was at the Statehouse, giving Carmichael advice about policy and messaging.
That provided an entry point to the Justice administration, during talks between Senate leadership and the governor.
“I was probably involved with some of those first meetings between him and Justice,” Carmichael said this week. “I asked if he would like to say hello to the governor. Bray and the governor hit it off to their credit.”
Late that summer, Justice dramatically announced during a West Virginia visit by President Donald Trump that he would change his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. Many from his initial staff were out the door, and Cary was rumored to be in.
“Bray beat on me every day in the world, but I don’t harbor bad feelings like that. I like Bray,” Justice said on Aug. 20, 2017. “I don’t feel like anything is going to happen there at all. If Bray can contribute or if anybody can contribute I’d welcome anybody’s contribution. All I want to do is just get something done.”
Another of the candidates for governor in the 2016 election isn’t surprised by the connection that evolved.
“Bray Cary is a part of that small group in West Virginia that is calling the shots, regardless of the will of the people,” said Charlotte Pritt, who appeared on “Decision Makers” with Cary that year as she ran for governor as a Mountain Party candidate.
“They have no loyalty to any party philosophy. They have a loyalty simply to the profit over people concept. What they’re up to is, they’re doing the bidding of corporations.”
From the fringes to the center
During the fall of 2017, Justice started pushing hard for his major policy goal, passage of a statewide road bond issue meant to pump millions of dollars into West Virginia road construction.
As supporters gathered to boost the road bond, Cary was among them. He brought his lifelong experience with communications and television.
The bond issue passed that Oct. 8 with overwhelming support of the very few West Virginians who turned out to vote.
By then, Cary’s relationship with the governor’s office was growing. He had also publicly changed his tune.
The headline of an op-ed column he offered to West Virginia newspapers last Nov. 3 concluded “Justice shows greatest example of vision leadership in state’s history.”
The Charleston Gazette-Mail focused on the emerging relationship last Dec. 9 with a story accompanied by the headline “Gas company board member Cary scores vague role in governor’s office.”
The signals were a swipe card giving Cary round-the-clock access to the Capitol as well as an official parking spot. He entered into a confidentiality agreement with the administration in response to freedom of information requests from the newspaper.
That article produced the only interview Cary has provided about his role. He was specifically asked about EQT.
“I am not on the take,” Cary told the newspaper. “My loyalty is to the state of West Virginia, period. I am not taking anything out of here in confidence. I am not acting on anything, and if you find something that you think … you should just call me directly, and I will answer that question directly.”
Over this past legislative session into this spring, the Justice administration has appeared to be leaning even more on Cary.
The puzzle among observers has been that the Justice administration already has a chief of staff, former Senate Finance Chairman Mike Hall.
Legislators said Cary was sometimes in caucus to talk about dealing with big issues such as the teachers strike that dominated the Statehouse agenda for nine days. He is a regular visitor to offices for Carmichael and House Speaker Tim Armstead.
Where Cary’s role overlaps with Hall’s has been a lingering Statehouse mystery.
Carmichael says the hierarchy is clear to him. Asked to describe who he contacts when he has an immediate question about the administration’s stance on an issue, Carmichael answered: “Mike Hall.”
Abraham, the governor’s chief counsel, last week described the hierarchy in the administration with the governor and the middle, with Abraham to one side because of executive privilege and Cary, the senior adviser, on the other.
In that description, the chief of staff was on the next level.
The structure is important because the state’s chief executive has a unique approach. Justice continues to live at his home in Greenbrier County, rather than at the Governor’s Mansion as is spelled out in the state Constitution. He says he remains a hands-on manager but doesn’t come to the Capitol many days.
“He doesn’t have time to be governor,” said Smith, the senator from Tucker County. “I don’t think the governorship is his number one priority. And he has people running the office because he’s not there and really influencing his decisions.
“What was it, $8.75 for paying Bray Cary? What the hell is that all about? So he can say he’s paid staff. I’m very disappointed in the governor’s office.”
This month, when the Justice administration hosted casinos and professional sports leagues for negotiations about West Virginia’s new sports betting bill, Cary was at the head of the table.
Many of the people in the “War Room” were at the top of their professions. Millions of dollars were under discussion.
John Cavacini, president of the West Virginia Gaming and Racing Association that represents the state’s racetracks, said Cary handled himself with authority.
“I think he tried to be fair when either one of the sides got a little bit across the line,” Cavacini said. “He was not hesitant to stop the bickering that was going on. At several times, it got extremely heated and when it did he called an end to the bickering.”
EQT
Cary’s other big connection is with EQT, one of the largest natural gas producers in West Virginia.
He has been on the board of directors since 2008, which means he would have a fiduciary responsibility to the company.
Cary also leads EQT’s corporate governance committee, which oversees the board’s self-assessment process while also making recommendations about its compensation structure.
Cary himself is generously compensated.
Last year, he made $367,860 in cash, stock awards and other compensation, according to EQT’s report to shareholders.
Cary bought several rounds of shares of EQT stock about this time last year. The largest was a purchase in June of 22,627 shares valued at $1,209,186.
His most recent purchase of 558 shares of EQT stock occurred this past April 2, valued at $26,510.
He bought another round valued at $31,761 on Jan. 2, a round valued at $26,487 last Oct. 2 and a round valued at $23,494 last July 3.
The situation prompted state lawmakers to pass a bill requiring “public servant volunteers” working in official capacities in the government to submit ethics disclosures. For short, lawmakers and lobbyists called it “The Bray Cary bill.”
“The only thing I have ever been concerned about, with regard to anybody who is performing the role of a state employee is that a person be subject to the state ethics rules,” said House Minority Leader Tim Miley, D-Harrison.
“Any communication I’ve ever had with Bray Cary, he’s indicated a complete willingness to comply with the state ethics rules.”
Miley said the bill covering public servant volunteers was meant to be a safeguard in instances where there is policy that may present a conflict.
“Last session that was the case with Mr. Cary and EQT, the company on whose board he sits,” Miley said. “As long as there are safeguards put in place to prevent any self dealing, then I’m not as concerned as I otherwise would be.”
EQT is affected by a variety of regulations, bills and laws. The company lobbied last year at the Legislature on issues dealing with drilling, property rights and royalties.
The company has an active lawsuit in federal court against the state Department of Environmental Protection — part of the executive branch that Cary helps lead — over a new royalties law.
Abraham told the Gazette-Mail last week that Cary has steered clear of policy involving natural gas and EQT.
“He has never been involved in anything regarding EQT,” Abraham told the newspaper. “Discussions of legislation, anything having to do with the natural gas industry, he has not had any conversations with anybody within this office.”
The connections are too close for those on the other side of natural gas issues.
“That creates an insurmountable conflict of interest,” said Tom Huber, who lobbies for royalty owners.
“We at the West Virginia Royalty Owners Association think that if Bray Cary wants to have a prominent role in the governor’s office he should resign his board role with EQT to give the citizens of WV confidence that he is not furthering the interests of EQT rather than the people of West Virginia.”
Legislative concerns
The EQT board member’s prominence in the governor’s office has created growing concerns among legislators who deal most often with natural gas issues.
Senator Randy Smith is the chairman of that body’s Energy, Industry and Mining Committee that ran the royalties bill that EQT is now suing over. The bill gathered steam in Smith’s committee and then rolled out of the Legislature with surprising majorities.
“The legislation that we passed through the Legislature this year, EQT fought it tooth and nail,” Smith said. “I don’t think it’s a secret that I ran some legislation that I wasn’t supposed to run.
“I just don’t think mineral owners and land owners in West Virginia are going to get a fair shake as long as a gas company has such a heavy influence in the governor’s office.”
Smith later added, “It’s not hard to see the writing on the wall. It just stinks.”
Senator Charles Clements, a Republican from Wetzel County, was one of the main supporters of the royalties bill that’s now law.
He, too, wonders about Cary’s connections.
“Let’s put it this way,” Clements said, “I’m sure Bray Cary is a very intelligent man and has a lot of knowledge. He wouldn’t be here today if he wasn’t.
“My only concern is because of his relationship with EQT — if this is not a perfect example of a conflict of interest.”
When Clements thinks about EQT’s lawsuit against the Justice administration in federal court, he already wonders how committed the state will be to defending the current law.
“So if EQT prevails in this lawsuit, is the state going to follow up on it and then appeal it? Or will they just let it go by the wayside?” Clements said. “I would hope the state would fight this all the way as long as they need to.”
Clements suggested someone invested in the natural gas company might see the matter differently.
“If I’m a stockholder of EQT, I’m going to want them to fight this because it could be detrimental to their bottom line,” he said. “But I believe this legislation needs to be in place to protect the people of West Virginia, and that’s what my job is as far as I’m concerned.”
Delegate John Kelly is the vice chairman of the House’s Energy Committee and leads that committee’s efforts on oil and gas issues.
“His presence in the governor’s office does not appear to be the best thing for the state of West Virginia,” Kelly said. “Yeah, it looks bad to me.”
Kelly was targeted in the primary election with flyers put out by a group called Shale Energy Alliance. They called him a liberal.
In legislative discussions over property rights, Kelly has resisted a policy called joint development, which could bring old leases under a single drilling unit without renegotiating.
“I believe my reluctance to run legislation that they want is part of the reason the Shale Energy Alliance came after me in the primary election, and directly or indirectly, he’s tied back to them,” Kelly said of Cary. “I have heartburn with that.”
As thousands of West Virginia teachers were striking this past legislative session for better pay and stable health insurance, the Shale Energy Alliance got involved. The alliance posted social media advertisements suggesting a partnership with teachers.
The pitch seemed to be support for joint development in exchange for a higher severance tax on natural gas.
About that same time, Governor Justice promoted a grand bargain on natural gas drilling and teacher pay.
I will call us into special session to find a way out through co-tenancy and joint development and the mineral rights people … you’ve got to find a way that satisfies everybody and raises the severance tax on gas. #wvgov
— Governor Jim Justice (@WVGovernor) February 26, 2018
The proposal drew immediate criticism from others in the natural gas industry, from land and mineral rights lobbyists and from lawmakers. By the next day, Justice wasn’t talking about it any more.
“The Legislature has never passed what they want,” Kelly said this week. “I don’t think the Legislature will pass what they want with or without his input or mine.”
In the spotlight
Carmichael, who has been Cary’s friend over the years, is aware aspects of the situation aren’t ideal.
“There are issues that should be resolved,” Carmichael said in a telephone interview this past week. “Either you’re EQT or you’re state government.”
Carmichael says he doesn’t believe Cary is out for personal gain or to advance EQT’s interests. But he said the appearance isn’t good.
“He could go off and do whatever. He doesn’t need the money,” Carmichael said. “These people who say he’s just doing it for a special interest that he may have, I don’t believe that even enters his mind.
“Now the appearance can be that way. But when you look at the results of the legislative session, EQT didn’t fare well. I completely agree the appearance is bad. I know the man and he’s a moral, upright person.”
Carmichael says Cary’s perspective has grown since he has become more intimately involved with the workings of government.
The approach needs to be more practical than what Cary might have thought back when he was doing broadcast commentaries that concluded by exhorting viewers to “keep working for a better West Virginia.”
“Bray has a greater appreciation for the workings of government and the interest of 100 percent of the people, rather than a specific group or entity,” Carmichael said.
“You see it from a different perspective when you’re in here representing everyone, as opposed to being on the outside and having a theory about the way things should work.”
Carmichael acknowledges that Cary has been an unexpected linchpin for Justice’s staff. But now, the senate president says, Cary is fully committed to helping the administration succeed.
“Bray is incredibly defensive and supportive of the governor now,” Carmichael said. “He absolutely works to promote his positions, whether or not Bray agrees with them, I believe.
“He is first and foremost an advocate for the governor.”