CHARLESTON — Circuit Judge David Hummel hopes to use his experience and passion for the judiciary to bring about change on the West Virginia Supreme Court if he is elected.
Hummel said after being a circuit judge for 12 years, he feels being a Supreme Court justice would be the next step.
“It didn’t feel right to run in 2018 during the special election, but it does now,” Hummel said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. “The timing felt better this time around.
Hummel said he always dreamed of being a Supreme Court justice but knew that position required significant training and experience, which was why he decided now would be a good time.
“We have no one really representing the northern half of the state in the current race,” Hummel said. “I’d like to be that person and not only represented the northern half of the state, but also the entire state.”
Hummel said the northern half of the state has some issues that are unique to it, like oil and gas litigation. There are also some unique issues in his own judicial circuit because of the proximity to Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Hummel said campaigning was going well until Coronavirus caused the cancellation of many events.
“Thankfully, we’d already started our internet-based campaign and are working on that now,” Hummel said. “I’m genuinely happy with how everything has gone.”
Hummel said if he is elected, he wants to make sure drug treatment courts focus on behavioral health, like the treatment court in his district is already doing.
“Allen Loughry did away with mental health courts, but I was able to revive ours through the treatment court. I want to effect change by making sure these courts are available to all,” Hummel said. “Our court here is truly revolutionary and the approach to addiction needs to be statewide.”
Hummel said he believes being a circuit judge is an important part of being a Supreme Court justice.
“There is no substitute for being a circuit court judge,” Hummel said. “There’s no substitute for that experience. You need to be in the trenches and in the courtroom. They need to have looked into the eyes of an addict or into the eyes of someone when terminating parental rights. You have to have that experience.”
Hummel graduated from Marshall University in 1992 with a bachelor’s in business administration. He then went on to receive his law degree from the University of Oklahoma’s law school.
Hummel has worked for small law firms as well as large ones. He established Hummel Law in 2003. He was also an assistant prosecuting attorney for Marshall County for more than five years.
All three of the Supreme Court races are non-partisan. The Division 1 and 2 races are for regular 12-year terms on the Supreme Court. The Division 3 race is to fill the seat formerly held by Allen Loughry. Gov. Jim Justice appointed Justice John Hutchison to fill that seat in December 2018. The term for the Division 3 seat will end in 2024
For the Division 1 seat, incumbent Justice Tim Armstead is being challenged by Hummel and former Justice Richard Neely.
Running for the Division 2 seat currently occupied by Justice Margaret Workman are former state legislator Bill Wooton, Putnam County Assistant Prosecutor Kris Raynes, Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit and Kanawha Family Court Judge Jim Douglas. Workman is not seeking re-election.
Hutchison is seeking re-election for the Division 3 seat. He was appointed after former Justice Allen Loughry resigned. The term is to finish the rest of Loughry's term and will end in 2024. Schwartz and Fifth Circuit Judge Lora Dyer also are running for the seat.
In 2018, Tabit finished third in a special election for two seats on the Supreme Court left by the retirements of Robin Jean Davis and Menis Ketchum. Armstead and Justice Evan Jenkins, both of whom had been appointed by Justice to temporarily fill those seats, won those elections. Douglas, Wooton and Schwartz all ran in the 2018 election as well.
The non-partisan court election is part of West Virginia's primary election, which is May 12.