Fellow legislators and political pundits speculated a great deal about the “big news” Republican Kanawha County House Delegate Moore Capito planned to deliver at a fundraiser last week.
Those who love a mystery were surely the only ones happy with the event at The Greenbrier Thursday, still puzzling over the “big announcement.”
It seems, according to attendees, that Capito may have adopted the old “no news is good news” motto. If he made a “big announcement” most weren’t aware of what it was.
He showed those in attendance a slick video that is far too state-oriented to be intended for a House re-election campaign in Kanawha. Then he admitted that statewide offices are on his potential plan radar.
He scoffed at pre-reception reports that he might be announcing plans to run for Governor or Congress that night. Some of those rumors were reported here two weeks.ago. They came from.usually reliable sources.
And, as I wrote earlier, most felt the potential opponent Capito would target would be încumbent Republican Congresswoman Carol Miller once districts are realigned.
Despite those in the Miller camp who are dreaming of a little or no-opposition election, there will be opponents in the primary and general of 2022. And my mention of possible ones does not encourage them to file nor indicate that I want them to.
Miller will be formidable, as will the other two incumbent Republicans, Alex Mooney and David McKinley should all three seek re-election.
At the fundraiser, Capito sort of shook his head, according to those who attended, and wondered where such wild rumors came from.
It won’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure that one out. Most of the rumors came from comments Capito and close friends made to colleagues and others. Nobody thought it was a secret that he is potentially interested in a Congressional run but perhaps it is.
I’ve seen some campaigns where it seemed candidate and staff wanted to keep the campaign secret until the election was over. Maybe this is one of those.
Few, even long-time family friends, think running against Miller would be a good career move for Capito. You can include me in that group.
But, he is now apparently undecided what he’s going to do. Lack of decisiveness is not usually considered a quality politicians should display. Voters seldom flock to the candidate who doesn’t know what he or she is running for.
There are no statewide races on the 2022 ballot for Capito to consider. So did he invite folks to The Greenbrier with the lure of a “big announcement” just to show them a fabulous commercial with no indication of what office he’s seeking, if any?
I doubt it.
One fellow legislator did point out that the event was held “using state, not federal, finance rules.” That would apparently mean all the money raised, and it was surely significant, would have to be used for a state not federal race. That would rule out using these funds for a Congressional run.
So for now we are back where we were to begin with. Capito filed earlier with the Secretary of State as a candidate for undisclosed office. Despite the hoopla, that hasn’t changed.
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The legislature is charged with drawing 100 single-member House districts for the 2022 election. We’ll see then where Capito ends up but he’ll be a favorite for whichever district he inherits. That doesn’t mean he’ll run for re-election to the House, of course.
We haven’t heard the last of this. Meanwhile, you should view that fabulous video. He has it posted on social media.
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Being an heir to the Moore-Capito dynasty gives Capito the luxury of instant name recognition and fundraising far better than opponents.
I’m not the first person to talk of the Moore-Capito political dynasty. A national magazine did such a feature when U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito first began her climb up the political ladder.
She is, of course, the daughter of iconic West Virginia Governor Arch A. Moore, Jr. and mother of Moore Capito. Her nephew, Riley Moore, is the current State Treasurer
Sounds like a pretty impressive dynasty to me.
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As another week ended, the Supreme Court was apparently still considering Mingo Countian Ernest Sammons’ motion for a Writ in the appointment of a new county commissioner.
The decision is not only important to Mingo but also will have statewide implications moving forward.
Of course, on the advice of commission attorney.Tom Ward, the two existing commissioners appointed Marty Fortner to Gavin Smith’s vacant sear despite the Writ petition having been filed.
This came after Republican officials forgot which party they represent. Any sane official would believe a Republican Executive Committee replacing a Republican official would want to suggest only solid, long-established party members for the vacancy. But state and county officials favored the possible appointment of a former independent, the deceased commissioner’s widow, instead.
If those “Republicans” had not challenged simple common sense and not named one unqualified candidate for the job, Fortner would likely have been appointed anyway and there would be no issue.
I’ve discussed it all previously so there’s no need to bore readers with all the details.
Suffice it to say that questionably-named County Republican Chair Bo Copley convened a dubiously-appointed county Republican Executive Committee.
This “committee” named Audrey Smith, widow of deceased Commissioner Smith, as a potential replacement.
The problem with that is that Audrey Smith was a registered Independent voter when her husband passed. The law says his replacement must be of the same party he was (Republican) and have been so for at least 60 days.
Obviously Mrs Smith could not meet that qualification.
But state Republican leadership, which seemingly has a death wish for continued control of the legislature and statewide offices, urged Mingo’s suspect committee to name Audrey Smith as one of their recommendations. They backed their argument with an opinion letter from Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Overall, appearances are that committee members are not all that Republican-oriented.
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If I was still political consulting, I’d love to let the state and Mingo GOP committees support a candidate in the 2022 primary and let me take any other one. We’d give them a lesson in Mingo politics.
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One ramification of a possible Supreme Court granting of the Sammons Writ would be to throw into question the legality of all actions by the County Commission since Fortner came on board.
While Ward was technically and legally correct when he advised the Commission to move forward with Fortner’s appointment despite the Writ filing, his advice could end up costing the cash-strapped county more than they ever imagined.
Some at the Commission meeting wanted them to delay their appointment but most agreed that the seat had already been vacant “too long.”
In this case, discretion might been the better guide.
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I said it on social media and I’ll repeat it here: anyone who ever voted for George W. Bush has no right to label ANYONE as a RINO (Republican In Name Only).
His hatred for President Trump and love for the Joe Bidens of the world betrays him as no friend of the GOP.
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I have no idea if some one or group suggested it, but more and more county GOP Executive committees are meeting in churches. Kanawha County has been meeting recently at a Church of God rather than the traditional Voter’s Registration, for example.
The Republicans may have moved or been asked to move because of Covid pandemic restrictions, but churches are no places to be holding meetings of political organizations.
Of course I am a firm advocate of the separation of church and state, but there is no way convening in some church sends an inviting, all-inclusive message to the community at large.
Believe it or not, not even all Republicans are bible thumpers.
Based on their refusal to admit an accredited reporter and a former Republican Sheriff candidate to their Summer business meeting, there’s no reason to think state Republicans want to grow and provide a “big tent.”
One can check the Virginia Republican registration rolls to see how the methods of their former Executive Director boosted the party numbers. Since he’s now the West Virginia ED, I suppose we should expect more of the same here.
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The delay in sentencing for former Wayne County House of Delegates member Derrick Evans indicates the difficulty prosecutors actually have with cases like his.
Evans was involved in the January 6 rally that ended with some destruction at the national capitol. He stupidly videotaped his entry into restricted areas of the building.
While some order must be maintained, the capitol is a public building. And Evans is part of the public who “owns” the building so how can he trespass?
No doubt he was forced to resign his seat by federal threats of more severe charges against him. Now that it’s put up or shut up time, the feds need more time to work with Evans, they told a DC judge.
The entire hearing led to a delay in Evans’ sentencing.
Evans may well beat this rap.
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Writer Duncan Slade has written a lengthy.piece about the Hatfield-McCoy Trail. While admitting that the trail has been a huge benefit to Southern West Virginia, Slade’s lengthy article concludes that the system has not lived up to the hype originally associated with it.
While the report strives to be informative and balanced, many elected officials have described it as a “hit piece.”
Here’s an example of what it says: “The project and its more than 400 jobs are frequently touted as an example of West Virginia’s tourism business, and how the state could continue a pivot to an economy that relies more heavily on out-of-state visitors as the traditional extraction industries continue to decline.”
While that paragraph can be viewed as positive, the article compares original job and tourism dollar benefits and concludes that the.trail system has only performed at about 20 percent of original projections.
They use figures presented through the years and note that people like former Congressman Nick Joe Rahall touted the trails with much higher expectations than have been achieved.
I called trail director Jeff Lusk for comment but he did not return my call.
There is almost unanimous support for the trail from legislators, mayors and others in the region.
My genuine question over the years is: does anyone track these things for the state? How many millions have been expended on projects that promise the moon and deliver little or nothing?
I join public officials who have seen the benefits of the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System. Just go to Gilbert and look around.
Twenty percent of promises kept is better than most other results.
How many ribbon cuttings and ground breakings result in nothing?
I say hoorah for the Hatfield-McCoy Trails.
Ron Gregory is a regular political columnist and reporter for lootpress.com. Contact him at 304-533-5185; ronjgregory@gmail.com; or P.O..Box 20297; Charleston, WV 25362.