CHARLESTON – The chairman of the Wayne County Republican Committee has filed a petition with the state Supreme Court saying Gov. Jim Justice is not following law in choosing a candidate to replace resigned Delegate Derrick Evans.
The petition for a writ of mandamus was filed January 25 on behalf of Jeff Maynard. The petition, filed by attorney John H. Bryan, asks the court to force Justice to follow West Virginia law in choosing between the three qualified candidates presented to him by the Wayne County Republican Executive Committee to fill the House of Delegates vacancy left by Evans’ resignation after he was charged with taking part in the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.
“Basically, the state Republican party has usurped the powers and authority of the Wayne County Republican voters by attempting to take away their authority to choose a list of three qualified candidates to present to the governor,” Bryan said. “The governor was presented with a list of three qualified candidates on January 14. He had five days to choose from the list.
Stauffer
“Instead, the new acting chairman of the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee (Roman Stauffer) took over the process, and created a new list – this time removing one of the three names and inserting a new name. This disenfranchises the Republican voters of the 19th Delegate District in Wayne County.
“The law is clear however, and places this power solely on the Wayne County Republican committee members – all duly elected by voters in their precinct.”
Bryan says part of the reason this is important because Wayne County hasn’t had a Republican delegate in 100 years.
“Now that they’ve got one, the governor is seeking to replace the choices of the voters with his own guy – who is an unvetted, unknown entity, since he didn’t run in the November campaign,” Bryan said. “Even more importantly, West Virginia law is clear and unambiguous that the local party (and this applies to all parties) gets to make the decision on the list of three to present to the governor.
“This was put in place for a reason. To allow it to be thrown to the wayside is to allow a transfer of power from the people at the local level to some smoke-filled back room full of politicians and politicos.”
According to the petition, they Wayne County Republican Executive Committee submitted the names of Mark Ross, Chad Shaffer and Jay Marcum to the governor’s office, which signed for and accepted the registered letter January 14.
“Subsequent to the governor’s receipt of the list of three qualified candidates for the vacant seat, Chairman Maynard received a phone call from counsel for the governor, Brian Abraham, who advised that the governor would not be choosing from the list of three qualified candidates,” the petition states, “because the acting chair of the West Virginia State Republican Executive Committee, Roman Stauffer, had not participated in the vote. Thereafter, Acting Chairman Stauffer unilaterally engaged in a second selection process, ultimately creating a new list (hereinafter ‘second list’) of three candidates.”
That second list still included Ross and Shaffer.
“However, instead of Jay Marcum – who had been a candidate for the 19th Delegate District in the 2020 Republican primary – a new name replaced him: Jeff Booth,” the petition continues, noting that Stauffer submitted the new list to the governor on January 22.
“The governor does not have the discretion to choose from a second and subsequent list of qualified candidates, which would usurp the statutory rights of the Wayne County Republican Executive Committee members of the 19th Delegate District, as well as their constituents,” the petition states. “State code mandates that the governor choose from among the three candidates supplied by the Wayne County Republican Executive Committee.
“He may not add to the list. Nor may any third party, such as the acting chairman of the State Republican Executive Committee, alter the list of candidates already-supplied by the petitioner within the 15-day time period prescribed by statute.”
Stauffer declined comment.
“We have no comment on any pending litigation at this time,” Stauffer told The West Virginia Record.
Abraham, who recently was named Justice’s Chief of Staff, did not return messages seeking comment.
In the petition, Bryan says the state Supreme Court already reviewed such a case in the 2016 ruling in State ex rel. Biafore v. Tomblin when it ruled the governor’s duty to fill an open vacancy from the list is nondiscretionary.
At the time the Biafore case regarding an appointment was heard by the court, Bryan says Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and others argued that state code mandated the governor select a vacancy replacement from a list submitted by the Republican Party’s district executive committee for a Senate seat.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin wanted to appoint a Democrat to a state Senate vacancy left by a Republican, but he wanted the state Supreme Court to rule on which party should get the seat. The Justices decided a Republican had to be appointed to fill the seat vacated by a Republican.
In this case, Evans is facing federal charges for entering a restricted area and entering the U.S. Capitol. The newly elected Evans had taken his oath of office just days before, but he resigned from his seat January 9.
Maynard seeks an expedited briefing, oral argument and decision based on the emergency and time-sensitive nature of the case. He seeks to have the court grant the writ of mandamus as well as costs and other fees and relief.
