Darrell V. McGraw, Jr.

Darrell V. McGraw Jr.

Education

Bachelor's

West Virginia University

Graduate

West Virginia University

Law

West Virginia University

Darrell Vivian McGraw, Jr. (born November 8, 1936, in McGraws-Tipple, West Virginia) was a Democratic Attorney General of West Virginia who served five consecutive terms in office. He is the brother of Warren R. McGraw, the former State Supreme Court justice and state senate president. Darrell McGraw was defeated in his bid for re-election to a sixth term as attorney general in the 2012 election.

McGraw was succeeded by Patrick Morrisey (R), who unseated him in the general election on November 6, 2012.

McGraw ran for the state supreme court in 2016. He was defeated by attorney Beth Walker.

McGraw passed away on December 7, 2024.

Biography

McGraw was raised in a rural coal mining town in West Virginia by his schoolteacher parents. At 17 years old, he enlisted in the army and was soon thereafter sent off to Germany. Upon returning from his service overseas, McGraw attended West Virginia University, where he became student body president as a senior. McGraw received his B.A., M.A., and J.D. from the university.

McGraw is a member of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe as well as of the Rotary Club.

Education

• Pineville High School
• Bachelor's degree, West Virginia University
• Master degree, West Virginia University
• J.D., West Virginia University

Career

McGraw served as counsel to Hulett C. Smith, governor from 1965 to 1969, along with the West Virginia Legislature. He was elected in 1976 to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and served as chief justice. It was during his tenure that McGraw upheld the state Freedom of Information Act, ordering that any exemptions that granted were to be extremely limited.

Attorney General of West Virginia (1993-2013)

In 1992, he was elected Attorney General for the state of West Virginia. In this role, he oversaw many high-profile prosecutions, among them the 1998 multi-billion dollar state tobacco settlement, which saved the state $2.5 billion.

Mortgage Settlement

In his capacity as attorney general, McGraw presided over West Virginia's participation in the $26 billion mortgage settlement between 49 states and five major lending institutions guilty of illegal loan and foreclosure practices. Overseeing the state's consumer protection division was also in his capacity as attorney general. McGraw decided to direct part of the nearly $34 million from the settlement intended for victims of the housing crisis to opening up a satellite office for the Consumer Protection Division in Martinsburg, in the Eastern Panhandle, where most of the settlement's beneficiaries reside. The division, which also has offices in Charleston, hoped to retain its satellite presence in the Eastern Panhandle permanently. As of McGraw's May 2012 announcement of the division's expansion to include the new office, he said there was enough funding set aside to keep it open for the next 3 years.

Byrd senate seat

In the wake of the death of Robert C. Byrd, longtime Democratic member of the United States Senate, the fate of his vacant seat was left in limbo for over a week. Byrd, who had for a number of years been in frail health, passed away on June 28, 2010. At the time of his death, the late senator had about thirty months left in his term, which was set to expire on January 3, 2013. Under state law, Governor Joe Manchin was given the authority to name an interim successor until an election could be held. Had Byrd died after Saturday, July 3, 2010, he would have been able to appoint someone to serve the entire balance of the unexpired term.

But there were issues of debate among political scholars, such as when a vacancy could actually be declared. The biggest area of contention, however, was over when a special election can be called. According to the West Virginia Code of Appointments §3-10-4, "“If the unexpired term of any office is for a longer period than [30 months], the appointment is until a successor to the office has timely filed a certificate of candidacy, has been nominated at the primary election next following such timely filing and has thereafter been elected and qualified to fill the unexpired term.”

On Thursday, July 8, 2010, State Attorney General McGraw delivered his highly anticipated opinion on the matter, upon Democratic Governor Joe Manchin's request for legal advice regarding the volatile issue. He announced that a special election was required in order to appropriately fill the unexpired term of the late senator. The state's top law enforcer added further that both "a primary and a general election must occur, though he leaves it up to Gov. Joe Manchin as to when to hold the primary election." The next day, Jonathan Deem, who was Legal Counsel for West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, [called] for a special session of the West Virginia Legislature to "fix the state’s elections laws."

The legal opinion rebuked Democratic Secretary of State Natalie Tennant's declaration that "state election law does not allow the state to hold an election to fill Byrd's seat until Election Day on Nov. 6, 2012," though it did authorize the governor to appoint a successor until that time.

Elections

2016

Main article: West Virginia judicial elections, 2016

McGraw ran for the West Virginia Supreme Court in 2016. He faced incumbent Justice Brent Benjamin. McGraw was joined in the race by Republican Beth Walker, former state representative William Wooton, and attorney Wayne King. Beth Walker was the winner in the five-way general election on May 10, 2016.

Election results

West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, Justice Benjamin's Seat, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Beth Walker	39.62%	162,245
Darrell V. McGraw, Jr.	23.08%	94,538
William Wooton	20.67%	84,641
Brent Benjamin Incumbent	12.47%	51,064
Wayne King	4.16%	17,054
Total Votes (100% Reporting)		409,542
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State Official Results

Campaign finance

At the time of his April 30 finance report, Darrell McGraw's reported total raised was $72,157.24, with $8,102.79 in expenditures.

Two 2016 candidates, William Wooton and incumbent Brent Benjamin, applied for and received public financing under West Virginia's public campaign finance law. Candidate Beth Walker challenged their receipt of the funds, claiming that they missed filing deadlines that should preclude financing. The case was ultimately heard by the Supreme Court of Appeals with replacement justices, after all five sitting justices recused themselves. The substitute justices decided in favor of Wooten and Benjamin and against Walker. Benjamin accepted $483,500 from the state's Public Campaign Finance Fund. Bill Wooton accepted $475,000.

Advertisements

According to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, the McGraw campaign spent $27,570 on ad time as of May 3, 2016.

Satellite spending

The Republican State Leadership Committee has spent at least $194,600 on three ads against candidates William Wooton and Darrell McGraw that promote Walker.

2012

See also: West Virginia attorney general election, 2012

McGraw ran unsuccessfully for election in 2012. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary, but was defeated by attorney Patrick Morrisey in the general election on November 6th.

Attorney General of West Virginia General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Darrell McGraw Incumbent	48.8%	267,135
	Republican	Patrick Morrisey	51.2%	280,695
Total Votes				547,830
Election results West Virginia Secretary of State Election Results Center

2008

• 2008 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary

• Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. ran unopposed in this contest

West Virginia Attorney General, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Darrell V. McGraw, Jr.	50.4%	342,011
	Republican	Daniel W. Greear	49.6%	336,699
Total Votes				678,710
Election results via West Virginia Secretary of State

2004

• 2004 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary

• Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. ran unopposed in this contest

West Virginia Attorney General, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. Incumbent	50.4%	359,491
	Republican	Hiram Lewis, IV	49.6%	353,473
Total Votes				712,964
Election results via West Virginia Secretary of State

2000

• 2000 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary and General Election
  • Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. ran unopposed in both contests

On November 7, 2000, Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. won re-election to the office of West Virginia Attorney General. He ran unopposed in the general election.

West Virginia Attorney General, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. Incumbent	100%	465,047
Total Votes				465,047
Election results via West Virginia Secretary of State.

Noteworthy events

CEI rating

In an analysis of state attorneys general published in July 2010, McGraw was named "The Nation's Fifth Worst Attorney General" by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a nonprofit public policy organization dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. Basing their criteria on ethical breaches/selective application of the law, fabricating law, usurping legislative power, and predatory practices, the West Virginia Attorney General, who at the time of the publication faced re-election in 2012, received a letter grade of F in the last three categories; he narrowly missed acquiring the failing mark in the initial grouping, receiving a letter grade of D- instead. The CEI sharply accused McGraw of not only of violating "the most basic duty of his office" to defend the state in court, but of also regularly diverting "money recovered by the state from legal settlements to friends and allies, endangering West Virginia’s Medicaid funding in the process."

Cronyism allegations

In June 2007, the political oversight advocacy group, West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (WVCALA), published a report in which they detailed a long line of allegedly questionable behavior conducted by Darrell McGraw. Among the charges leveled at the West Virginia Attorney General was the claim he used his office to enrich top financial contributors to his election campaigns.

In the 1994 lawsuit filed against seventeen tobacco companies seeking restitution for costs to the state as a result of smoking-related illnesses and deaths, McGraw, rather then handle the high-profile prosecution himself, delegated it to personal injury law firms serving as assistants to the Attorney General's Office. All of the outside counsel but one have contributed to Darrell McGraw’s election campaigns. These firms were paid $33.5 million for their services.

Additionally, between 2004 and 2007, McGraw's office "hired private attorneys to serve as Special Assistant AGs more than 25 times." These selections, chosen mainly behind closed doors with no bidding required, included the law firms of DiTrapano, Barrett & DiPiero (who contributed $42,000 to McGraw's campaign), Hill, Peterson, Carper, Bee & Deitzler ($19,000), and Frankovitch, Anetakis, Colantonio & Simon ($12,000), among others.

Use of public resources

WVCALA pointed out further that in the midst of his 2004 re-election campaign, McGraw's office "spent nearly $1 million on television advertisements that appeared to be designed to build public recognition of the McGraw name." No more than half of that amount had ever been spent by the Attorney General on television ads. In the commercials, McGraw took the nickname "Judge" at the same time his brother, Warren, was campaigning for judicial office.

Furthermore, a former Attorney General employee testified that he was informed of a "plan which was already in place to raise more than $1,000,000 through the Attorney General’s Office lawsuit settlements that were to be used to run television spots featuring Darrell during his election year to benefit both Darrell and [Supreme Court Justice] Warren [McGraw].”

Campaign contributions

2012

McGraw lost the election to the position of West Virginia Attorney General in 2012. During that election cycle, McGraw raised a total of $234,107.

West Virginia Attorney General 2012 election - Campaign Contributions
Top contributors to Darrell V. McGraw, Jr.'s campaign in 2012
Robert Fitzsimmons	$4,000
Tony L. O'Dell	$2,000
Timothy C. Bailey	$2,000
Rudolph L. Ditrapano	$2,000
Clayton J. Fitzsimmons	$2,000
Total Raised in 2012	$234,107
Source:Follow the Money

2004-2008

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. See the table below for more information about the campaign donors who supported Darrel McGraw, Jr.. Click [show] for more information.

Darrel McGraw, Jr. Campaign Contributions
	2008 Attorney General of West Virginia		2004 Attorney General of West Virginia
Total raised	$302,187		$206,948
Total raised by opponents	$225,003		$31,946
Top 5 contributors	Daniel Guida	$2,300	Building & Construction Trades Council	$2,400
	Committee to Re-Elect Darrell McGraw	$2,137	Equal Justice PAC	$2,000
	West Virginia Building & Construction Trades Council and West Virginia Regional Council of Carpenters	$2,000 each	West Virginia Federation of Teachers	$2,000
	Parkersburg Marietta Building & Construction Trades Council and West Virginia Education Association	$2,000 each	17 individual donors	$2,000 each
	13 individual donors	$2,000 each	n/a	-
Individuals	$233,628		$165,370
Institutions	$47,300		$22,700
In-state donations	$214,766		$147,125
Out-of-state donations	$77,300		$30,345

Polls

2012

McGraw v. Morrisey for Attorney General
Poll	Darrell McGraw	Patrick Morrisey	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Charleston Daily Mail by R.L. Repass & Partners (August 22-25, 2012)	57%	33%	10%	+/-4.9	401
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
McGraw currently resides in Charleston, West Virginia with his wife, Jorea Marple, the former West Virginia Superintendent of Schools. The couple has four children and one grandson.

Approach to the law

About his judicial philosophy, Darrell McGraw has said, "The court needs more illumination ... The law is an entity that’s designed to advance the quality of civilization with good people working through proper processes to do so, in ways that do not damage, hurt or diminish your fellow citizens."

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Darrell McGraw West Virginia. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. - Google News

See also

• Attorney General of West Virginia
• West Virginia attorney general election, 2012

External links

Suggest a link

• Official West Virginia Attorney General website
• Project Vote Smart - Darrell McGraw biography
• Campaign contributions, 2000-2012

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by '	Attorney General of West Virginia 1993 - 2013	Succeeded by Patrick Morrisey (R)