WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

CHARLESTON – State Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis told MetroNews that she does not plan on running for U.S. Senate in 2014.

Davis, who has been on the court since 1996, disclosed July 17 that she has no interest in seeking the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Jay Rockefeller, even though several members of the state Legislature have been asking if she would be interested.

“I feel like people are waiting for me to say something,” she told Hoppy Kercheval on Talkline.

“I wanted to make it perfectly clear I’m not running, nor have I had any intention of running for the United States Senate.”

Davis is a Boone County native who received her law degree from West Virginia University. She was appointed by then-Gov. Caston Caperton to fill a spot on the Supreme Court in 1996.

As a Democrat, she won a 12-year term in 2000, then won re-election last year in an election that saw five candidates vying for two open spots. Allen Loughry, a Republican, won the other seat.

“I simply will not turn my back on those West Virginians who put me in that office,” Davis said. I love the law. I’m a scholar of the law.”

Davis said she is enjoying the current era on the Supreme Court after having been through periods when the court was divided and politicized. She said the current justices are very collegial towards each other and hard-working.

Before becoming a justice, Davis was in private practice at Segal and Davis, concentrating on the fields of employee benefits and domestic relations. She is married to attorney Scott Segal.

Currently, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, has filed to seek the Senate seat, as has fellow Republican Pat McGeehan, a former state legislator.

Democrats are still looking for a candidate. Davis told Talkline that Democratic leadership needs to "step up and develop a plan and vision."

From the West Virginia Record: Reach John O’Brien at jobrienwv@gmail.com.