Ryan White (West Virginia)

Ryan White is a judge for Division 1 of the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals. He assumed office on January 1, 2025. His current term ends on December 31, 2034.

White ran for election for the Division 1 judge of the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals. He won in the general election on May 14, 2024.

White completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ryan White was born in Charleston, West Virginia. White's career experience includes working as an attorney. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 2001 and a law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law in 2005. White has been affiliated with the National Association of Bond Lawyers.^[1]

Elections

2024

General election

General election for West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals Division 1

Ryan White defeated Elgine McArdle and Mychal Schulz in the general election for West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals Division 1 on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ryan White (Nonpartisan)	59.2	160,873
	Submit photo	Elgine McArdle (Nonpartisan)	21.6	58,818
		Mychal Schulz (Nonpartisan)	19.2	52,282

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 271,973
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for White in this election.

2014

See also: Kanawha County Schools elections (2014)

Ryan White challenged Curtis Robinson, Vic Sprouse, Becky Jordan, Pete Thaw, Tracy White and Calvin McKinney for one of three at-large seats in the general election on May 13, 2014.

Results

**Kanawha County Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2014**
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Ryan White	23%	14,403
	Nonpartisan	Pete Thaw Incumbent	19.3%	12,101
	Nonpartisan	Becky Jordan Incumbent	15.2%	9,552
	Nonpartisan	Calvin McKinney	14.3%	8,968
	Nonpartisan	Vic Sprouse	13.4%	8,401
	Nonpartisan	Tracy White	10.5%	6,571
	Nonpartisan	Curtis Robinson	4.3%	2,669
Total Votes				62,665
Source: West Virginia Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed June 23, 2014

Funding

White did not report any campaign contributions or expenditures to the West Virginia Secretary of State.^[2]

Endorsements

White did not receive any official endorsements for his campaign.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Ryan White completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by White's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Ryan is married to his wife Kate White and they have three children. Ryan has been practicing law since 2006. He is admitted to the West Virginia Bar, the Southern District of West Virginia, the Northern District of West Virginia and the United States 4th Circuit. Ryan clerked for the Honorable Judge Joseph Robert Goodwin of the Southern District of West Virginia in 2005-2006. Ryan started working at Jackson Kelly in 2006 in its public finance department until 2012. Ryan formed White Law Offices, PLLC with his father in 2012 where he currently practices with his father, Steve White and Mark Matkovich, helping clients throughout the state of West Virginia. Ryan also served as counsel to the West Virginia Senate Finance Committee and Economic Development Committees during the 2009, 2010, and 2011 legislative sessions. Ryan has a broad range of experience in law including public finance, property, municipal, corporate, administrative law, litigation, tax, utility and non-profit law. Ryan was named a West Virginia Super Lawyers Rising Star by Law & Politics in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2018 in the Bonds/Government Finance practice area. Super Lawyers of WV rated Ryan as the top-rated Government Finance Attorney in Charleston, WV for 2018. Ryan was elected to the Kanawha County board of education for three four-year terms starting in 2014 and was the top vote getter in all three elections. While serving on the Board, Ryan was elected President of the School Board.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

As a Judge, Ryan’s priority will be to display fairness to those in his courtroom and to follow the law that benefits all citizens of our great State.
As a Judge, Ryan will ensure that the Court's proceed expediently.
As a Judge, Ryan will ensure that the rule of law is followed in accordance with the West Virginia and US Constitution.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a judicial candidate, it is not appropriate to talk about public policy issues that may come before the court.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave a legacy of being a great parent and making West Virginia the best place it can be. My practice area has been focused on making West Virginia better and as a Judge I will make decisions that will continue to move West Virginia forward.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for a judge to have previous experience in government or politics?

I believe it is extremely beneficial for a judge to have previous experience in government. A judge that has served as a judicial clerk knows how the judiciary is going to operate and actually has experience writing opinions based on law and arguments is very beneficial to being a judge. A judge that has experience serving as counsel to the legislature and knows how laws are written, has drafted numerous laws and knows the legislative process is a tremendous asset in making judicial determinations about laws. A judge that has been elected by the people, made quasi judicial decisions by listening to both sides of the argument, been reelected by the people and been selected as a leader by their peers is a testament of that person's integrity, fairness and ability to be non-biased. I have all of that experience and both of my opponents have attempted to be elected/appointed to various positions and neither was elected/appointed which demonstrates they have not demonstrated the characteristics that West Virginia voters can trust to make important judicial decisions.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

The West Virginia Health Care Association and the West Virginia Affiliated Constructions and Trades have endorsed me so I am endorsed by both business and working West Virginians.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2014

White's campaign website listed the following campaign themes for 2014:^[3]

Providing a safe, consistent learning environment

"School safety is paramount. We must ensure that Kanawha County children and educators are safe, while maximizing instructional time. We can accomplish this by:

Developing a consistent emergency policy centered on the safety of students, teachers and staff.
Working with teachers and parents to develop local school calendars that maximize the number of days that are spent in the classroom.
Providing teachers with tools and the ability to utilize technology that maximizes learning which can occur outside of the classroom"

Developing basic skills

"We need to ensure that Kanawha County students continue to build skills at each grade level in order to advance in the school system. We can accomplish this by:

Increasing the participation and effectiveness of pre-k programs throughout the County.
Directing as many dollars to the classroom as possible by eliminating ineffective programs.
Ensuring our students obtain the skills they need at each grade level, rather than moving up unprepared students."

Training a workforce

"Kanawha County schools should educate to enable students to enter a modern workforce. Without a high school diploma, individuals are limited to less than 10% of jobs. More than 50% of all jobs require some post high school education. We can accomplish this by:

Decreasing the dropout rate throughout the County which will increase the tax base and decrease dependence on governmental programs.
Fostering entrepreneurism by teaching creative skills that encourage kids to think outside the box which will lead to our students starting local businesses that create jobs.
Continuing to work with vocational schools and community and technical schools to encourage non-college attending students to obtain some type of post high school education."

Educating for tomorrow

"Technological advances have introduced ways to learn that were not possible 20 years ago. We need to enable Kanawha County educators to take advantage of new teaching methods and enable all students to learn technological skills that will be necessary throughout their lifetime. We can accomplish this by:

Supporting our educators by ensuring access to technology that all students can utilize to allow for more instructional time inside and outside of the classroom.
Providing more flexibility for teachers in the classroom by working to get rid of “one size fits all” policies and standards.
Finding a way to support the library system which provides access to necessary resources that lower income individuals may not be able to afford."

Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.

Campaign finance summary

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External links

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Candidate

West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals Division 1

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 18, 2024
↑ West Virginia Secretary of State, "Elections," accessed March 6, 2014
↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named facebook

West Virginia courts

Federal courts:

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of West Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of West Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia

State courts:

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia • West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals • West Virginia Circuit Courts • West Virginia Family Courts • West Virginia Magistrate Courts • West Virginia Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in West Virginia • West Virginia judicial elections • Judicial selection in West Virginia

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 18, 2024

[2] West Virginia Secretary of State, "Elections," accessed March 6, 2014

[facebook-3] Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named facebook

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Ryan White (West Virginia)

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals Division 1

Endorsements

2014

Results

Funding

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

2014

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

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