As difficult as it is to believe, we can start staring at the end of the 2022 legislative session and contemplating its successes and failures. Time really does fly when one is having fun.
I will admit here and now that if driving the state further right wing socially was the electorates’ goal for this session (and it might have been), that’s being accomplished by the Republican super majority legislature.
I have voiced concern in the past that right to work and abortion on demand are not as all-important to the average Republican voter as the far right “organizers” would have us believe.
I have clearly had business developers tell me that right to work is a key to success here. There’s no denying that.
Aside from the limited number of those who make a living by lobbying and working the legislature, it is rare that I have a voter say to me, “My real concern is right to work.” There is, however, a solid core of development folks who will tell you about right to work every time they discuss state government and potential for future success.
I’ll concede that maybe I don’t get that kind of comment often because readers/listeners know I’m not as preoccupied with the subjects as their GOP officials and some commentators are.
Frankly, I’d prefer to see how “libertarian” Republicans handle mask mandates and months’ worth of senseless orders from the Governor if social issues did not dominate the agenda. Up until now, the track record isn’t all that impressive on legislators standing up for freedom.
And yes, it would be impossible not to see how much more freedom-oriented Governor Justice and the Republican legislative supermajority have become during the past year.
Mask mandates and liberty; along with stifling executive orders that choked off any appearance of freedom are no longer invoked by Justice and other leaders at the drop of a virtual press conference. If the House and Senate meeting in regular session caused this conversion to freedom advocacy, we should keep the legislature in regular session continuously.
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Credit State Senator Charles Trump and others with being as honest as we knew they were.
Unlike some who never go above or Unger to show their dedication to the spirit let alone the letter of the law, Trump sent me a nice note after I wrote about the Supreme Court opening some were pushing Trump to fill last week.
Although former Democrat Eastern Panhandle Senator John Unger not only has no apparent problem overstepping the boundaries of law and decency, Trump and other honest public servants have plenty of concern.
At issue is the simple language of state law that does not allow someone to be appointed to a position when the position’s salary has been increased on the vote of the official being appointed.
That sounds complicated. It isn’t. In this case, we don’t even need to write hypothetically since the violation is being done every time a paycheck is written to Unger.
While Unger was a state senator (prior to being a magistrate), he voted to raise magistrate pay. Now, Justice appointed Unger to a vacant magistrate position in Berkeley County at the higher wage Unger voted to support.
State law says that’s illegal. Apparently Unger and his friends don’t care. A complaint was filed regarding Unger; nothing happened. Unger still serves and apparently draws his check.
Now, the ex-senator has filed to complete the unexpired term by running in the May primary.
Let the voters sanction this charade is the latest theory, I guess.
Unger offers no explanation. He doesn’t bother to say if he somehow believes he can legally do what he’s doing.
A similar scenario could have been carried out for a current Supreme Court vacancy. The possibility exists. There were rumors Justice would appoint Trump with the included pay increase he (Trump) voted for in a different Senate vote.
I said Trump would never skirt, let alone ignore, the law.
His note made it clear he wouldn’t. Trump runs on different principles than Unger. So do most other officials, including Justice Tim Armstead.
Armstead essentially took every step possible to insulate himself from such a situation. Many wondered about Armstead’s logic when he recused himself from a similar vote.
Armstead, like Trump, erred on the side of caution and honesty.
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Obviously, judicial policies are often necessarily different than non-legal. And Unger is under no obligation to make a legal argument of why he can do what he’s doing.
Sometime, though, we’d all probably like to know the man’s logic and, perhaps, see an official decision as to whether he is legally serving as a Berkeley magistrate. Do his bench decisions carry the weight of law?
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Meanwhile, the drumbeat from the Cabell County courthouse is not about to end any time soon.
In the magisterial redistricting that may never end, we have county commission candidates that apparently are running where there’s no vacancy to begin the saga.
It’s a bit odd, it seems to me, that “candidates” go by the courthouse and file for posts not on the ballot. That’s strange, even for Cabell County.
Somehow, in accepting that the conspiracy of a decade has been perpetrated on Cabell, these theorists think two sitting Republican commissioners have served all or part of the last years illegally.
The same folks who scoff at my assumption that a map on file in the Secretary of State’s office is a “missing” 2018 Cabell magisterial map for 2012, have zero problem determining that a seemingly off-hand remark by Democrat Commission President Jim Morgan has all the authenticity of federal, state and local law.
Morgan seems to have looked at Sabonya during 2022 debate and indicated that Sabonya and Cartmill live or lived in the same magisterial district while serving as Cabell commissioners.
That is absolutely, positively a “no-no.” Well, it always has been. Maybe. Probably. No doubt.
If all the parties involved and their lawyers can sift through all of this without filing lawsuits galore, they deserve Pulitzer Peace prizes. Somehow, we’ll keep you informed.
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Now we continue our pilgrimage through the 100 House of Delegates races coming up this year. If we don’t misspell a name or misnumber a legislative district, we’ll call it a victory for the home team. We’ll surely tell you somebody is unknown that’s very well known — except to me.
And we are making no calls official. It’s much too early.
We began the process last week by looking at the first four.
In District Five, we have Democrat Shawn Fluharty versus Republican Brooke McArdle.
Incumbent Fluharty has represented District Three, a two-member district, since 2015.
Redistricting, which we discussed last week, has created only single-member districts across the state resulting in changes such as Fluharty being moved to District Five.
The Fifth District now includes downtown Wheeling and its riverfrjont areas. Ohio County Republican Chair Elgine McArdle announced the afternoon of the last day of filing that her daughter, Brooke McArdle, had mailed her candidacy papers and would seek the GOP nomination for the District Five seat.
Brooke McArdle, 22, is a student and hockey player at Elmira College in Elmira, New York, who plans to move back to the area after graduating in the spring, her mother said. She mailed her papers while on her way to a hockey game on Saturday, her mother confirmed. Those documents were received and properly postmarked according to the Secretary of State’s office.
District Six, at this point, features incumbent Republican Charlie Reynolds and Democrat Reva Yost.
Reynolds, along with Democrat Lisa Zukoff, has represented the former two-delegate District Four.
Zukoff is now in District Seven, making Reynolds the incumbent in the Sixth.
Reynolds is the clear favorite to win this seat. Yost is relatively unknown politically although she has been speaking to groups and organizations in the district.
In District Seven, Marshall County Democrat incumbent Delegate Lisa Zukoff, is unopposed in the primary. But Charles R. Sheedy Sr. has filed on the GOP ticket, and Dylan Parsons will run as a Mountain Party candidate.
Sheedy is a former Marshall County Administrator who could give Zukoff a run for her money.
District Eight will see a Republican primary featuring incumbent Delegate David L. Kelly of Tyler County and Dave Shelton.
Kelly has represented the old Sixth District since 2018 and is the favorite this time. His opponent, Shelton, is a reporter who says he’s been impressed by the number of local residents who’ve asked him to run for office.
He adds that his national and local reporting gives him a unique perspective on the issues that concern the public.
Republican incumbent Trenton Barnhart is the only candidate thusfar in District Nine.
An up-and-coming Pleasants County banker/businessman, Democrats will have to work to even find an opponent for Barnhart. He is a go-getter who has a real political future in the Mountain State.
State Treasurer when Riley Moore becomes Governor maybe?
In District Ten, a Wood County institution, Republican incumbent Bill Anderson, will be challenged by Democrat J. Morgan Leach.
To say a loss by Williamstown resident Anderson would be a great upset would be a huge understatement.
Leach, a union-embracing Parkersburg attorney, ran fifth when he previously tried for a House seat in the former District Eight in 2016.
He might finish fifth this time but there are only two candidates. The winner, Anderson, and Leach.
District 11 has GOP incumbent Roger Conley, fellow Republican Bob Fehrenbacher and Democrat Harry Deitzler.
If Conley, the short time incumbent, continues to play footsie with state GOP officials and helps them try to overthrow the Wood County Republican Committee, he may learn a serious lesson.
Clearly, if one figures out the lay of the land, Conley’s House seat can be in jeopardy. He could lose the primary and, if not, Deitzler presents a serious challenge in the fall. He’s one of the state’s most-respected trial attorneys.
Conley apparently sees some advantage to keeping a war going within the Wood GOP. Readers will remember he was former state Chair Melody Potter’s choice to replace duly-elected Wood Republican Chair Rob Cornelius when Potter improperly removed Cornelius as chair. Conley has followed in drum step ever since.
Fehrenbacher is a semi-retired Vienna businessman who has been running hard since early January.
Deitzler is a former Wood County Prosecutor. He is well known throughout the state for his courtroom expertise.
Don’t count Deitzler out if Conley makes it through the primary.
In District 12, there’s incumbent Republican Vernon Criss being challenged by Democrat Jonathan Difibaugh.
Criss is the lead sponsor of legislation that liberals say is a sweetheart deal for coal companies.
Critics of the proposal say it would cost local governments millions in revenues.
Difibaugh appears to be a political newcomer which makes Criss the overwhelming favorite.
Republican Scott Heckert is unopposed in District 13.
Heckert’s biography also includes little about politics. He did, however, recently purchased Charleston’s Barge restaurant at auction and hopes to relocate it to Parkersburg.
Democrats may struggle to find a candidate in the 13th as well.
Republicans do not lack for candidates in District 14 where three have filed. Incumbent D. Shannon Kimes will be the GOP favorite. Dave Foggin and Kevin Siers are the other contenders.
Democrat Jim Marion is unopposed for that nomination.
Former Republican Delegate Martin “Rick” Atkinson will be challenged in the 15th Republican primary by incumbent Riley Keaton. No Democrats have filed although the party can name someone later.
It was Atkinson who was appointed to replace longtime GOP Delegate Bob Ashley when Ashley moved up to take a State Senate appointment. Keaton has only served a short time in the seat.
Republican Steve Westfall is unbeatable and unopposed in District 16.
In the 17th, two other Republicans are lined up with incumbent Jonathan Pinson. Morgan Hurlow and Robert Marchal are the challengers in what should be an interesting contest.
Pinson will be favored.
It’s a battle between two solid conservative old friends in District 18. There, incumbent Johnny Wamsley will meet ex-Delegate Jim Butler. The former Delegate is the favorite.
No Democrats have filed in 18.
We will continue next week.
Ron Gregory is a regular political columnist and reporter for LOOTPRESS. Contact him at 304-533-5185: ronjgregory@gmail.com: or PO Box 20297, Charleston, WV 25362. Confidentiality guaranteed.