One interesting aspect of legislative redistricting is the waiving of a normal candidacy requirement.
In 1992, the state Supreme Court ruled that the usual one-year residency requirement cannot be enforced when redistricting has occurred.
In the case, Delegates Greg Martin and Robert Burk, Jr. brought Mandamus proceedings against two circuit clerks and then-Secretary of State Ken Hechler.
The suit was actually all-encompassing since Martin and Burk sued on behalf of “all others in a like and similar circumstance” against Wood County Circuit Clerk Carole Jones, Ohio County Circuit Clerk Lin Humphries, Hechler and “other circuit clerks.”
Burk, himself a Parkersburg attorney, represented those seeking the writ. A. Renee Coe, attorney and Deputy Secretary of State, represented the clerks and Hechler. Justice Richard Neely delivered the opinion that granted the writ.
The court described the conclusion, “In those cases in which a person moves to a new district, a part of which was his old district, after a legislative reapportionment occurring so close to election day that less than a year remains before the general election, the residency requirement of W.Va. Const., Art. VI, § 12 has been met.”
In requesting the writ, Burk and Martin sought to force the clerks and Hechler to accept their certificates of candidacy even though they had not resided in the district the one year required by the constitution.
When Mandamus proceedings were instituted, Martin represented Ohio County’s Third Delegate District while Burk represented Wood’s Eighth District. Redistricting rearranged those districts for the 1992 election.
As explained in Neely’s opinion, “The petitioners did not move away from their districts; their districts moved away from them. Furthermore, given that the redistricting statute, Enrolled Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 301 and Enrolled House Bill No. 4043, was passed less than one year before the 1992 general election, it is not possible for serving legislators or challengers in like circumstances to rearrange their residences within the one year spoken of by W.Va. Const., Art. VI, § 12. A narrow reading of W.Va. Const., Art. VI, § 12, then, invites outrageous and destructive political maneuvering every ten years. Clearly, this was not the intent of the drafters of our Constitution.
“In those cases in which a person moves to a new district, a part of which was in his old district, after a legislative reapportionment occurring so close to election day that less than a year remains before the general election, we find that the residency requirement of W.Va. Const., Art. VI, § 12 has been met. Therefore, we grant the petitioners’ writ….”
It goes on to say, “to be on the general election ballot, a candidate must actually reside in the district he seeks to serve on or before the day of the general election.”
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Interestingly, Hechler told the court he was only trying to enforce the residency requirement as written and joined in support.of the writ.
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Former Kanawha County Republican Delegate Ron Walters confirmed in a recent conversation that he was one of those “others in a like and similar circumstance” who benefited from the court’s ruling in the residency matter.
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On the subject of redistricting and residential requirements, it’s interesting to note that redistricting the House of Representatives has a different twist.
Clause 2 of Article I, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution requires that members of the House be at least 25 years old, have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and live in the state they represent. They do not necessarily have to resident in the district they represent although not doing so would likely be political suicide.
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Add Cabell County Commission to the list of offices Republican Delegate John Mandt Jr. might seek next year.
Mandt told me recently he is keeping “all options open for 2022.”
Rumors in Huntington have the Hot Dog King interested in the state senate and county commission. He could also be pleased enough with House redistricting to run again there.
He’s guaranteed to be in a new district since his four-member 16th must be realigned as single-member districts.
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Whether or not allegations of ethical violations are true or not, it cannot be good for Republican Congressman Alex Mooney to be under investigation, as reported last week.
I have pointed out before that, even if not illegal, I doubt that contributors to campaigns intend for their money to go toward meals, travel and luxury hotels for their favorite candidates. Our favorite candidate, former State Senator Richard Ojeda, did that constantly. Now we learn that such expenditures by congressional candidates may violate House ethics rules.
Mooney has had ethics problems in the past, as our story pointed out. In fact, he moved to West Virginia from Maryland to run for the House when his potential filing in that state ran into problems.
The conservative congressman has also been roundly criticized for “informational” mailers at taxpayer expense that look suspiciously like campaign pieces. The fact that Mooney chooses to keep constituents informed of his activities by sending the fliers more in election years than off-years raises more than a few red flags.
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It’s too soon to speculate whether Mooney could be in real trouble, but news of the investigation has to encourage potential opponents. I can imagine that Kanawha Republican Delegate Moore Capito is buoyed by the news. He’s been widely rumored as potentially running for Mooney’s seat, which was formerly held by his mother, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito.
Of course redistricting figures heavily into the congress race as well since, in 2022, there will be two House of Representatives members rather than three from the state.
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Speculation about Mooney’s troubles has led to various Republican names — including Capito’s — being tossed about.
But silence has echoed from state Democrats. There hasn’t really been any concerted effort on their part to exploit the Mooney reports or mention possible realistic candidates for congress.
One local Democrat elected official told me he was “embarrassed” that his party was not roundly condemning the GOP Congressman.
He speculated that state Democrats “are too busy with their internal war to worry about Republicans.”
As I noted last week, Bernie Sanders worshipping progressives have been very unhappy with the leadership of State Chair Belinda Biafore since at least 2016. Filing complaints against her must consume most of their time.
Everyone knows I’m a Biafore supporter but I’d suggest these Bernieites spend more time on positive paths to electing folks than tearing down their own party.
Despite their weeping, Biafore has strong support as state chair.
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It seems to me that progressive Democrats could be more effective if they’d concentrate on slowing down Republican Governor Jim Justice.
For example, there was little Democrat push for the legislature to rein in Justice’s extraordinary powers during the pandemic.
Folks like former Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stephen Smith would be more effective challenging Justice in court than complaining about Biafore to the Democratic National Committee.
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Contrary to my sarcastic remarks last week, State Republican Executive Director John Findlay tells me the press will be welcome during the party’s Summer Meeting in Bridgeport.
Morning training sessions will, understandably, be off-limits to the media, he said.
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Findlay also clarified that an extra zero was inadvertently dropped into the FEC report of his first pay check. Rather than $20,000, the report was amended to show it was $2,000, he said.
Anyone who knows the financial condition of the state party knew Republicans could not be paying Findley anything like $20,000 per month.
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One longtime state GOP Executive Committee member frowned when shown the same FEC report. He noted that Republicans under new Chair Mark Harris had raised just $320 and compared that to the $300 Harris reportedly gathered last year as Raleigh County Republican Chair.
Referring to the $10.5 million settlement abused patients at Beckley Veterans Administration Medical Center settled for, he said, “Mark may not be able to raise money but he sure can COST taxpayers plenty.”
Harris was chief of staff at the facility when the abuse of 62 patients allegedly occurred. He was asked to resign his position at the time but he and the VA say that had nothing to do with the patient mistreatment issue.
A physician, Harris has not practiced medicine since leaving the VA. He pastors a church in Raleigh County.
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A different filing with the FEC shows the state GOP apparently has a new treasurer. That information varifies rumors reported here that Gina Brown was resigning the job.
Those rumors said Brown was “disgusted” with the new GOP leadership and unhappy with dealing with the reports to the FEC.
Efforts to reach Brown have been unsuccessful so we can only rely on the rumors about what happened to cause her to step down.
Whatever happened with Brown, Greenbrier County’s Ben Anderson is listed as treasurer on the committee’s Form 1 Statement of Organization.
Interestingly, the report also lists both Harris and former Chair Melody Potter as “designated agents” for the committee.
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Opposite of Harris’ reputation as Raleigh County chair, where I have yet to encounter a Republican with a good word about him, Anderson gets great reviews for his performance as Greenbrier County Republican Chair.
Anderson is credited with helping turn the county toward the GOP. His supporters are vocal in saying he has done a good job as county chair.
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Remember that my contact information is always listed here. I love to hear from readers with tips and comments. I’d particularly like to hear from more of my new Beckley area readers.
As my hero Jimmy Swaggart says, “I’m waiting for your call.”
Ron Gregory is a regular political columnist and reporter for lootpress.com. Contact him at 304-533-5185 or ronjgregory@gmail.com.