West Virginia judicial elections, 2012

2013 → ← 2011
Judicial Elections
Judicial elections, 2012
Judicial election dates

The West Virginia judicial elections consisted of a primary election on May 8th and a general election on November 6th, 2012.

West Virginia judicial elections summary, 2012

Supreme Appellate Trial Total candidates 8   9 Unopposed candidates 0 5 Judges re-elected 1 5 Judges not re-elected 0 1 New judges elected 1 2 Partisan or Nonpartisan   Partisan   Democratic winners 1 5 Republican winners 1 2

Supreme Court of Appeals

Candidates competed for two seats.

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
LoughryAllen Loughry   A	No	Republican		26.27%   A
RogersH. John Rogers	No	Democratic	9%
BeaneJ.D. Beane	No	Democratic	11%
YoderJohn Yoder	No	Republican		23.92%   D
ChafinLetitia Chafin	No	Democratic	27%A	22.69%   D
PalmerLouis Palmer	No	Democratic	6%
DavisRobin Jean Davis   A	Yes	Democratic	28%A	27.11%   A

Circuit Courts

Third Judicial Circuit

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
HaughtIra M. Haught	No	Republican	100%A	34.24%   D
SweeneyTimothy L. Sweeney   A	Yes	Democratic	100%A	65.76%   A

Sixth Judicial Circuit

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
Farrell, Sr.Paul Farrell, Sr.   A	Yes	Democratic	100%A	100%   A

Sixteenth Judicial Circuit

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
AloiMichael Aloi   A	Yes	Democratic	52.18%A	100%   A

Twenty-Ninth Judicial Circuit

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
LeslieJ. Robert Leslie	Yes	Democratic	44.16%A	42.55%   D

Family Courts

Fourteenth Family Circuit

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
EnglandMatthew Dean England   A	Yes	Democratic	100%A	100%   A

Twenty-Third Family Circuit

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
StotlerGlen Stotler   A	Yes	Republican	100%A	100%   A

Magistrate Courts

Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Primary Vote	Election Vote
SandersOpal Sanders   A	Yes	Democratic	4.9%

In the News

West Virginia election recap, 2012

Here are the highlights from this year's West Virginia judicial election.

Supreme Court of Appeals

Four candidates ran for two seats that were open on this court. The lone incumbent, Robin Jean Davis, kept her seat, receiving 27.07% of the vote. Allen Loughry came in second, with 26.79% of the vote, earning a seat on the court. The two winners represent each party.

John Yoder and Letitia Chafin came in third and fourth, respectively.

Circuit Courts

The upset at this level of the court came in the race for the Twenty-Ninth Judicial District. Here, incumbent Robert Leslie, appointed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in May 2012, lost his seat to challenger Joseph K. Reeder. Reeder won with 57.47% of the vote.

There were three other races on election night. The incumbents all retained their seats.

Family & Magistrate Courts

In this category, there were three races, all unopposed. Two incumbents, Matthew Dean England and Glen Stotler, retained their seats. Newcomer Opal Sanders won a seat on the Magistrate Court in Cabell County.

West Virginia Supreme Court race

As featured in JP Election Brief: The Supreme Court Special on October 18, 2012.

Two positions are up for election on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, both of which are currently held by Democrats. Republicans Allen Loughry and John Yoder will take on Democrats Letitia Chafin and Robin Jean Davis in the general election. The outcomes of these races could cause a significant shift in the political balance on the high court, which currently has four Democratic members to only one Republican.

Candidate's views

“

During my year of service as State Bar President, I traveled to all 55 county courthouses and met with judges, prosecutors, magistrates and local attorneys to address the issues facing our state’s legal system first-hand. West Virginians want a court system that is balanced and transparent. I introduced my Balanced Court Initiative and Transparent Court Initiative to create a level playing field in West Virginia courtrooms. -Letitia "Tish" Chafin

”

“

The significance of this year's Supreme Court election in West Virginia cannot be underestimated as the Court consists of five Justices, each elected for separate twelve-year terms. During this election two of those Justice seats are on the ballot and will be chosen by the voters. Said another way, West Virginia will choose nearly forty percent of its Supreme Court for the next twelve years and making the wrong choices can result in a seismic shift on the Court for generations of West Virginians. -Allen Loughry

”

West Virginia campaign spending highlight

As featured in JP Election Brief: Money and controversies on September 27, 2012 The financing of judicial campaigns mentioned above made headlines in West Virginia this week.

According to the report by Justice at Stake and the Brennan Center for Justice mentioned above, the four Democratic candidates who campaigned for two positions on the West Virginia Supreme Court spent a combined total of almost $600,000 ($586,050, to be exact) on television advertisements during this year's primary season.

Candidate Letitia Chafin led the way, spending $325,100 on television ads. She was followed by incumbent Justice Robin Jean Davis, who spent $181,350. Louis Palmer and James J. Rowe spent $28,790 and $50,800, respectively. Chafin and Davis were successful in the primary, a fact which suggests that their strategy of engaging in relatively high campaign spending has paid off. They will face Republicans Allen Loughry and John Yoder in the general election on November 6.

On Tuesday, the West Virginia State Elections Commission unanimously voted not to appeal the state Supreme Court's earlier ruling that releasing matching funds to Supreme Court candidate Allen Loughry would violate the rights of other candidates who are financing their own campaigns. Loughry, a Republican candidate for the state's highest court, had filed a writ seeking to force the State Elections Commission to provide his campaign with matching funds, but the state Supreme Court ruled that doing so would be unconstitutional.

Candidates set for Supreme Court of Appeals election

As featured in Democrats chose nominees for West Virginia Supreme Court on May 9, 2012.

May 8 was the primary election in West Virginia. Six Democratic candidates competed to be the nominees for two positions on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia; Robin Jean Davis, James J. Rowe, H. John Rogers, Louis Palmer, Letitia Chafin and J.D. Beane.

Chief Justice Robin Jean Davis won the most votes, with Letitia Chafin coming in second.

Davis and Chafin will advance to the general elections, where they compete against Republicans Allen Loughry and John Yoder. Loughry has worked as a clerk for the high court since 2006 and was one of the first candidates to declare for the race, announcing in July 2011 that he intended to seek a position. Yoder is a judge on the Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit and was narrowly defeated by Justice Thomas E. McHugh in the 2010 election.

See also

• West Virginia judicial elections
• News: Supreme Weekly: Election fever - Races in Mississippi, Montana, Washington and West Virginia, November 17, 2011

External links

• West Virginia Secretary of State, Offices on the Ballot 2012
• The State Journal, "Supreme Court candidates talk about issues facing the judiciary," October 3, 2012
• Legal Newsline, "Legal groups weigh in on W.Va. SC campaign finance ruling," September 11, 2012
• Allen Loughry Is Supreme Court Hopeful 7/18/11
• Lawyer Announces Bid for Supreme Court 7/13/11
• Author of “Don’t Buy Another Vote…”running for Supreme Court 7/13/11
• West Virginia Media "Chafin Announces Candidacy for Supreme Court of Appeals," June 29, 2011 (dead link)
• Register-Herald "No shortage of Supreme Court candidates for 2012," November 22, 2011 (dead link)
• The Charleston Gazette, "Law clerk joins state Supreme Court race," January 25, 2012