CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia delegate-elect was ousted Wednesday while confined to his house on charges related to terroristic threats against his colleagues.
Joseph de Soto, who recently became a Democrat, was elected in November to represent the southern part of Berkeley County in West Virginia’s 91st district as a Republican. He was arrested in December after saying God had called on him to kill several members of the Legislature, including House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and House Majority Leader Pat McGeehan, who are both Republicans.
De Soto, 61, was released on bond on Dec. 23 by the Berkeley County Magistrate Court, and was ordered to home confinement while awaiting grand jury deliberations. The terms of his confinement stipulate that he can’t contact those he allegedly threatened or have access to any deadly weapons.
The Republican majority House of Delegates vote to declare de Soto’s seat vacant, which means the governor must appoint someone from his district to fill it. Gov.-elect Patrick Morrisey, also a Republican, is scheduled to be inaugurated on Monday to replace outgoing Gov. Jim Justice, who is headed to the U.S. Senate.
The decision followed a tense back-and-forth on the House floor about due process between Democratic Del. Shawn Fluharty and McGeehan, who was explaining the resolution to vacate de Soto’s seat.
Fluharty said the state constitution holds that a lawmaker-elect must refuse to take the oath for the seat to be declared vacant, and asked McGeehan if there was any evidence de Soto had refused.
“Look, this guy needs to go — I absolutely agree with that,” Fluharty said. “But I want us to do it properly.”
“I think the refusal is that he is incarcerated right now on home confinement,” McGeehan responded.
Later, when Fluharty asked again whether de Soto had had the opportunity to take the oath, McGeehan told him: “You can ask the prison.”
Fluharty noted that several other delegates-elect were unable to be at the Capitol on Wednesday, but there weren’t any resolutions calling to vacate their seats. He said he feared a procedural error could lead to legal action.
The proper way to remove de Soto would have been to send a proposal for his expulsion through the House Judiciary Committee, which won’t meet until February, Fluharty said.
McGeehan said the other members who weren’t present did so because of unplanned circumstances or conflicts that arose. In de Soto’s case, he couldn’t have been at the Capitol Wednesday because he on house arrest.
The disagreement came after Democratic Del. Mike Pushkin made a failed amendment to require that, if declared vacant, de Soto’s seat be filled by a Democrat. Although elected as a Republican, de Soto changed his party to Democrat the day before his arrest.
West Virginia’s Constitution states that vacancies must be filled by the governor from a list of three people submitted by the party executive committee “of the same political party with which the person holding the office immediately preceding the vacancy was affiliated at the time the vacancy occurred.” Pushkin said in his view, that means a Democrat should be appointed to replace de Soto.
Despite the rejection of Pushkin’s amendment, the Berkeley County Democratic Committee sent out a press release shortly afterward asking Democrats in the county who are interested in the position to reach out.
De Soto was elected to his first term in the West Virginia House as a Republican representing part of Berkeley County in the state’s eastern panhandle in November, receiving 72% of the vote in the general election after defeating two other Republicans in the May primary.
If convicted, de Soto could face a maximum fine of $25,000 and three years in prison.
