Democrats in the House of Delegates have chosen Doug Skaff, a Kanawha County businessman who runs the business side of the state’s largest newspaper, as their new leader.
Skaff was named during a Monday evening caucus vote via Zoom. An official votes for House leadership will be Jan. 13, when the Legislature convenes for a day. As is tradition, the legislative session is pushed back a month, to Feb. 10, to provide time for the governor’s inauguration.
He replaces Delegate Tim Miley, D-Harrison, who decided not to run again this year.
Democrats are deeply in the minority in the House this year with 24 members compared to Republicans’ 76-member supermajority.
In a quick telephone interview Monday evening, Skaff said a big goal is making the Democratic message clear to West Virginians.
“It’s about getting back to the West Virginia Democratic values,” he said. “And it’s about putting the people first, creating a message, creating a brand that resonates.”
He also described working across the aisle and said he thinks he can work with Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, who was chosen again Sunday evening to lead the GOP caucus. Skaff said he partnered with Hanshaw last year on a few pieces of legislation.
“I feel like I have a great relationship with Speaker Hanshaw,” Skaff said. “I look forward to leading the Democratic caucus, partnering with him where appropriate and working together for the greater good of West Virginia.”
Skaff has another new role outside of state government that may be a tricky balance. In early November, he was named president of HD Media, the company that owns The Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington’s Herald-Dispatch and more newspapers in southern West Virginia.
Gov. Jim Justice is a frequent critic of the Gazette-Mail, regularly calling it out during his coronavirus briefings over its headlines, coverage and editorial stances.
A Gazette-Mail article that announced Skaff’s new executive role said he will be focused on the business side of the newspaper. It noted that his position as an elected official would mean Skaff will be uninvolved in decisions on news and editorial content. Those duties fall to the newspaper’s editor, Lee Wolverton.
Asked about running the business operations of West Virginia’s largest newspaper while also serving as the public face of Democrats in the House of Delegates, Skaff suggested conflicts could be worked out through openness in the House chamber and delegating comment to a team of lawmakers.
“It’s a citizen Legislature, and everybody has roles and day jobs,” Skaff said. “I’m going to put together a leadership team of outstanding members from the Democratic caucus who will have the ability to speak to the press and talk about very issues. This definitely isn’t a caucus about me. It’s about sharing the leadership duties from various people throughout our caucus, to give them opportunities to speak to the press.
“So, no I don’t see any conflicts arising from that.”
Caucuses in both legislative chambers have selected their leaders over the past couple of days.
Hanshaw, a lawyer and chemist, was selected again Sunday afternoon to be the leader of the Republicans in the House. Speaking Monday on MetroNews’ “Talkline,” Hanshaw said the caucus is shaping goals for the upcoming legislative session, which may be streamlined because of social distancing needs.
He acknowledged that some of the legislative agenda could be shaped by issues that have arisen during the pandemic.
“We certainly are looking hard at it right now,” Hanshaw said. “This pandemic has caused us to identify problems in just the basic structure of government, it’s helped us identify problems with the way we run the public school system, it’s helped us identify problems in basic supply chain management for durable goods, it’s created problems with how we provide basic services to some of the most vulnerable populations in West Virginia.
“A big part of what we’re going to spend our time on when the Legislature convenes is things that have grown out of the response we’ve seen over the past 10 months.”
.@SpeakerHanshaw talks with @HoppyKercheval about being re-elected as the Speaker of the House of Delegates. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/6ow1OktnWl
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) December 7, 2020
The GOP supermajority in the state Senate picked Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, as its leader. Blair is a small business owner.
The president’s position opened after the Primary Election defeat of Mitch Carmichael, a Republican from Jackson County who served in the role since 2017. In West Virginia, the Senate president is also the lieutenant governor and is next in line of succession if the governor would become incapacitated or leave office early.
Republicans have a 23-11 supermajority in the Senate going into the coming session.
Senate Democrats selected Stephen Baldwin of Greenbrier County as their leader, replacing Minority Leader Roman Prezioso, who did not run again.
“We will fight the good fight,” stated Baldwin, a pastor.
“I have two goals. One, we need to build an organization as a caucus to serve as an effective loyal opposition. Two, we will work to inspire hope across West Virginia for a brighter future. Folks are understandably fearful right now. But as a person of faith, I believe in hope over fear. We will fight the good fight for our future.”