Justices Thomas Ewing and Gerald Titus, who were appointed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey to fill open seats on the state Supreme Court, have lost elections to unexpired terms.
And an incumbent on the Intermediate Court of Appeals, Dan Greear, also lost a re-election bid.
“Listen, I think one of the challenges with these judicial races when they’re held in a primary, and I always had some concerns about it, that it’s difficult for people to get known in a short period of time, and so I think they were wonderful picks, but both of them were relatively unknown,” Morrisey said on MetroNews election coverage.
“And I think some of the other candidates brought some other advantages, in terms of their name ID, in terms of the resources that they could bring to bear. But I want to congratulate the justices who did prevail, and we’re going to want to work with everyone.”
Although this is a primary election for many other races, it’s the final say-so for these two seats on the state’s highest court.
One Supreme Court election was for an unexpired term to fill the seat formerly held by Justice Beth Walker, who retired last year. The term expires in 2028.
Bill Flanigan, a Wheeling lawyer who has served in the House of Delegates has won that seat. Flanigan was leading by more than 24,000 votes when MetroNews called the race.
Flanigan, speaking on MetroNews election night coverage, said his strategy took into account that the Republicans in West Virginia’s dominant party closed their primary this year. So Flanigan said his team worked hard to be welcoming to all voters, including Democrats and the unaffiliated.
“I think the strategy the team and I had kind of worked with from the beginning was trying to make sure that our message was put to the people that were going to make going out to vote,” Flanigan said.
“What I really wanted to do was make sure that I went after and met with and talked to as many of the non affiliated and Democrats as I could. It didn’t seem like a lot of people were courting those voters. And they’re part of our citizens.”
Ewing served as circuit court judge in Fayette County for eight years before being appointed to the Supreme Court last year.
As a circuit judge, he presided over the Fayette County Adult Treatment Court. He also established and presided over several other programs, including the Fayette County Family Treatment Court, the Fayette County Teen Court and the Fayette County Truancy Diversion Program.
The other election was for an unexpired term to fill the seat formerly held by Justice Tim Armstead, who died last year. Candidates ran to fill out the term that expires in 2032.
The winner in this race was H.L. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick, a senior status judge and a long-time circuit court judge in Raleigh County with more than 30 years of experience on the bench.
“Everybody worked hard, but I put a lot of work into my social media,” Kirkpatrick said on MetroNews election night coverage.
Five candidates were vying to fill this seat, including Titus, a Charleston attorney who was appointed to fill the vacancy until the election.
The others were Todd Kirby, a former state delegate and current circuit judge in Raleigh County; Laura Faircloth, a current circuit judge in the Eastern Panhandle; and Martin “Red Hat” Sheehan, a Wheeling attorney.
The intermediate court race featured incumbent Judge Dan Greear against Kanawha Family Court Judge Jim Douglas.
Douglas was headed for victory. With a majority of precincts in, Douglas was ahead by 30,000 votes.
He was elected to the bench in the Eleventh Family Court Circuit in Kanawha County in 2016 and was re-elected in 2024.
Douglas was a solo practitioner from 1977 until his election, specializing in divorce and family law. He also served as the Braxton County prosecuting attorney from 1985 to 1988.
Greear, a Kanawha County resident, has served on the intermediate court since 2021.