Greear
CHARLESTON – Dan Greear, who nearly defeated state Attorney General Darrell McGraw in last year's election, apparently is considering a run for a soon-to-be vacant Kanawha Circuit Court judgeship.
The United State Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Berger's appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Berger, 54, had been appointed by President Obama in July to replace Judge David Faber on the federal bench.
Last week, the Governor's Advisory Committee on Judicial Nominations presented its recommended list of candidates to Manchin.
In an interview with the Charleston Daily Mail, Greear said he might run for the seat in the next election depending on Manchin's pick.
"It's something my eye is definitely on," Greear told the newspaper.
If Berger's replacement is named by the end of January, the new judge must run for election in November 2010. If the appointment is later, the new judge wouldn't face an election challenge until 2012.
The list of seven potential replacements includes five women:
* Kathy A. Brown, Kathy Brown Law PLLC
* Phyllis H. Carter, Chief Administrative Law Judge of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission
* David J. Cecil, Barth & Thompson
* Katherine Louise Dooley, The Dooley Law Firm PLLC
* John G. Hackney Jr., solo practitioner and judge on the West Virginia State Court of Claims
* Joanna I. Tabit, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
* Carrie Webster, Bucci, Bailey & Javins LC and chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee