CHARLESTON – The state Supreme Court soon will have a new face among the five Justices.
Longtime state lawmaker Bill Wooton earned a position on the state’s highest court June 9 during the delayed West Virginia primary.
With all precincts reporting, Wooton had 115,673 votes in the Division 2 race. That was more than 6,000 more than Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit. Putnam County Assistant Prosecutor Kris Raynes and Kanawha Family Court Judge Jim Douglas rounded out the field.
In the Division 1 race, incumbent Justice Tim Armstead defeated former Justice Richard Neely and Northern Panhandle Circuit Judge David Hummel Jr. In the Division 3 race, incumbent John Hutchison defeated Mason Circuit Judge Lora Dyer and Charleston attorney Bill Schwartz.
“I’m just very pleased and very excited,” Wooton said after it was clear he’d prevail. “I campaigned throughout the state, mostly electronically because of everything going on. It was a good fight. (Tabit) beat me by more than 20,000 votes in Kanawha County, but I worked the state hard.”
Wooton, who ran for a seat on the bench in 2018 as well, said his plan as a justice is simple.
“I will be the very best justice I can,” he said. “I firmly believe the Legislature makes policy. The court calls balls and strikes, if you will.”
He said he also wants to continue the work of the current court to regain the trust of the citizens.
“I think that’s a challenge that faces the entire court,” he said. “The incumbents now have taken great steps to addressing that. I think there needs to be total transparency with regard to spending. That’s the key. It all ought to be made public.”
Armstead, who currently is serving as Chief Justice, agreed.
“I do believe the court has gotten back on the right track to ensure we don’t have a repeat of the embarrassment,” he said.
All three of the Supreme Court races on this year's primary ballot were non-partisan. The Division 1 and 2 races were for regular 12-year terms on the Supreme Court. The Division 3 race was to fill the seat formerly held by Allen Loughry.
Gov. Jim Justice appointed Hutchison to fill that seat in December 2018. The term for the Division 3 seat will end in 2024. Hutchison was seeking re-election for the Division 3 seat. He was appointed after Loughry resigned. Justice Margaret Workman is not seeking re-election. Her current seat is the Division 2 race.
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 was part of West Virginia's primary election, which was rescheduled for June 9 because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
