McGraw
CHARLESTON –Darrell McGraw will try to keep his seat as West Virginia's attorney general for another four years.
McGraw has filed pre-candidacy papers with the Secretary of State's office. While he didn't declare which office he seeks, his chief deputy confirmed that he is again running for AG, a position he's held since 1992.
"He's running for attorney general," Fran Hughes said Wednesday. McGraw was not available to comment.
Hughes said if re-elected, McGraw and his staff plans to continue the work they've been doing.
"We hope to sustain the effort that we've made on behalf of consumers in providing the quality of legal services," she said. "We've stabilized the office. There's very little turnover. And the amount of money we've brought to the state is staggering. It's been over a half a billion since 1992, and more already is scheduled to come in."
A large chunk of that money is from the 1998 multi-state tobacco settlement.
With no other announced candidates for AG, Hughes said McGraw isn't thinking about the 2008 campaign just yet.
"We're just focusing on running the office," she said. "We're focused on what we do, our responsibilities, our mandates."
No one has filed to run against McGraw for AG, and no one has filed to run for one of two state Supreme Court seats up in 2008.
The only person who has filed to run for any circuit court judgeship is Parkersburg attorney Michele Rusen, who has filed pre-candidacy papers to run in the 4th Judicial Circuit.