CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Third District Congressman Evan Jenkins said Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline” he’ll be a candidate for the state Supreme Court seat retired Justice Robin Davis used to hold.
Jenkins, whose time in Congress comes to an end at the end of the year, has hinted about a Supreme Court run for a few weeks. He made an announcement via email Tuesday and backed it up Wednesday with his reason for running.
“To restore the public’s trust in our state’s highest court,” Jenkins said.
A spending controversy has resulted in federal criminal counts against suspended Justice Allen Loughry and retired Justice Menis Ketchum and 11 Articles of Impeachment approved by the House of Delegates this week naming Loughry, Chief Justice Margaret Workman, Justice Beth Walker and the now retired Davis.
Loughry, Workman and Walker face trials in the state Senate expected to begin in about a month.
Jenkins said Wednesday he’ll run for the Davis seat that has six years left on the 12-year term. The filing deadline for both the Davis seat and the seat Ketchum left is Aug. 21. The Ketchum seat has two years left on the term. A number of candidates have already filed.
Jenkins supports the proposed constitutional amendment up for vote in November that would give the state legislature more oversight of the High Court’s budget.
“I’ll be voting yes on that constitutional amendment,” Jenkins said. “West Virginia is an outlier in the fact that today, under the law, the judiciary has complete control over their own budget.”
Jenkins said transparency and accountability are the keys going forward for the Court. He’s reached out to state Auditor J.B. McCuskey who has introduced a number of financial transparency initiatives since he took office in January 2017.
“I have already asked for him to share some best practices examples of what we could do with the judiciary’s budget with accountability and processes,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins’ bid to stay in Washington fell short earlier this year when he lost in the U.S. Senate Republican Primary finishing second behind nominee state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Jenkins is an attorney, a former member of the House of Delegates and state Senate and former executive director of the West Virginia Medical Association.