WAYNE – In wake of legal action regarding the filling of a House of Delegates vacancy, one state senator says he wants to see changes made to the selection process.
And at least two people who expressed interest in filling the vacancy say they weren’t contacted to be interviewed. In fact, they said they didn’t even receive a response from officials.
“I am disappointed in the process and plan to introduce legislation to prevent a travesty like this from happening again,” Senator Mark Maynard (R-Wayne) told The West Virginia Record. “I hate to see different factions of the same party struggling to agree.
“I also plan to contact others for input because this is a process that happens more and more often, and it affects both parties.”
Maynard said he is talking to other lawmakers and officials, including the state Democratic Party, to figure out the best method to avoid similar situations for future vacancies.
“Everyone wants to make sure we don’t have issues like this again,” Maynard told The Record.
On January 27, Gov. Jim Justice appointed Joshua Booth to serve as a delegate for the 19th District, which includes much of Wayne County. Booth will fill the seat vacated by Derrick Evans, who resigned after being charged earlier this month with taking part in the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Booth was not on the first list of candidates given to Justice by the Wayne County Republican Committee. But he was on a subsequent list provided to the governor after acting state GOP Chairman Roman Stauffer conducted interviews for the vacancy.
On January 25, Jeff Maynard, chairman of the Wayne County Republican Committee, filed a petition with the state Supreme Court saying Gov. Justice is not following law in choosing a candidate to replace Evans.
The petition for a writ of mandamus was filed on behalf of Jeff Maynard by attorney John H. Bryan. He 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.
“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.
“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.”
Jeff Maynard said he filed the petition on behalf of the citizens of Wayne County. Jeff Maynard is a distant cousin of Mark Maynard.
“I contacted the Secretary of State’s office, party officials, legislators,” Jeff Maynard told The Record. “We followed state code. We had a list of names compiled, then Roman contacted me and said the names had to come to him and to the governor.”
Following Booth’s appointment, Jeff Maynard declined further comment except to say “laws in West Virginia seem to just be suggestions, according to our great leading example setter.”
Bryan said the legal case will proceed as planned following Booth’s appointment.
“This is what we anticipated would happen,” Bryan told The Record. “Had he chosen either of the two candidates on both lists, it would have mooted the petition. Since he didn’t, we’re proceeding as planned.
“I think the ball is in the governor’s court at this point. He said he would let the lawyers handle it, so we’ll have to wait and see what their reasoning is.
“Depending on how long it takes to get a ruling on this from the court, it will be interesting to see what the Legislature does as well. I don’t know that this has ever happened before.”
Bryan says part of the reason this case 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 (Jeff) 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 (Joshua) 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 Record.
Abraham, who recently was named Justice’s Chief of Staff, did not return several messages seeking comment.
“Roman ran an ad in the Huntington paper to find candidates,” Jeff Maynard said. “They did the interviews on the 21st at the Wayne County Courthouse. Then, he (Stauffer) compiled the second list of names.”
When asked if more legal action could follow, Jeff Maynard said, “I can’t answer that at this time.”
Jewell Maynard, a member of Wayne County Republican Executive Committee, said she was one of two members who showed up for the January 21 interviews at the courthouse. She is Mark Maynard’s mother.
“Initially, Jeff gave us seven names,” she told The Record. “We were supposed to choose three out of the seven Jeff gave us. According to Jeff, that was following state code. But the Republican state chairman (Stuaffer) said we had to follow the party by-laws. He said we had to do it this way to involve and let everyone know the seat was open.
“I want to do it the way state code and the party by-laws say. I don’t know if one supersedes the other or what. But I do know it needs to be clarified more for the future.”
One person who submitted an application is Kyle Powers.
Powers, 22, is a lifelong Wayne County resident who currently is Marshall University’s student body vice president who says he is ready to be an active part of the Republican Party.
“I was alerted to a memo sent out by the state party chairman,” Powers, a senior majoring in criminal justice with a political science minor, told The Record. “He released the memo outlining the process. That was on Monday, January 18. And they were going to meet with those who had expressed an interest on January 21 at the courthouse.”
Powers said he submitted his resume and even included the memorandum from the state GOP at 12:15 p.m. on January 18.
“I have yet to hear back from the state party or the county party,” Powers said. “I made it very clear I was interested in this position. And, I do understand I’m 22 and have never been actively involved in state politics.
“But, I played by the rules. I just want a fair shot. Everyone’s always preaching about getting young people involved in politics, but then you get the runaround like this. It’s just not right.
“Even if you’ve already made a decision, you have to play along. If you have to submit a list of three names and you have four people interested, you have to interview them.
“Party and politics aside, this all comes down to doing what’s best and what’s right for the people of Wayne County.”
In his application email to the state and county party, Powers introduced himself and expressed his interest in the House vacancy.
“Growing up in Wayne County, I have seen the much-needed improvements this county deserves and this county needs,” Powers wrote. “From the infostructure of our communities to broadband access for our rural areas, the citizens of Wayne County deserve better.”
A source told The Record at least one other “highly qualified” candidate who has won elected positions in the past as a Republican before moving to Wayne County also applied like Powers did. That person, who declined an interview request, also was not interviewed for the vacancy.
In the Supreme Court petition, Bryan says the justices 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.
Jeff 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.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 21-0051
