CHARLESTON – The chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party says a lower court ruling went against more than 100 years of state Supreme Court rulings by reinstated a once-ousted chairman of a county GOP Executive Committee.
In his petition filed June 14, Mark Harris said Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit’s February 21 order granting Rob Cornelius’ petition and putting him back in charge of the Wood County Republican Executive Committee. The ruling also ordered Secretary of State Mac Warner to accept a list of county executive committee members submitted by Cornelius after former state GOP Chairwoman Melody Potter made changes to the committee’s leadership.
““It’s a disappointing day for Republicans to see a filing like this,” Cornelius told The West Virginia Record. “The fraudulently elected leader of the WVGOP is asking the court to cancel the result of multiple actual elections in Wood County. Melody Potter and her assigns have no authority to annul an election anywhere, no matter what I say to anyone.
Williams
“This filing would lead you to believe that we don’t have a First Amendment anymore. That folks are not free to speak in public about political issues unless they have permission from their betters in Charleston. That one person can violate the civil rights of thousands of voters 80 miles away, on a whim.
“I’m pretty sure this is still America and that’s not how our Constitution and West Virginia Code work. We look forward to another day in court.”
Potter had said she removed Cornelius from the post in 2019 after comments he made about her and Gov. Jim Justice. Justice won election in 2016 as a Democrat, but he switched to the GOP in 2017 at the request of President Donald Trump. Potter also said Cornelius made personal attacks against her and Justice. Potter resigned as state GOP chairwoman in 2020.
“For over a hundred years, this court repeatedly held that West Virginia courts should avoid internal disputes because political parties are private organizations and party officials are not tantamount to public officials,” Harris’ June 14 brief states. “In holding that Cornelius should be reinstated and that his nominations to fill vacancies should stand, the circuit court did exactly what this court has admonished against – involve itself in an internal party squabble and treat a party official as though he were entitled to statutory protections. …
“If allowed to stand, the circuit court’s holding will do lasting damage to the autonomy of our political parties. The circuit court must therefore be reversed.”
On March 11, the state GOP filed its notice with the state Supreme Court, saying Tabit erred the party’s procedures for emergency removal are not in contravention of state law.
“We respect the court’s decision, but there are significant issues that need to be reviewed by an appellate court,” attorney Marc Williams told The Record at that time. He is representing the state GOP in the appeal. Williams previously handled the impeachment appeal for former state Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman.
On March 7, Harris had requested a stay on Tabit’s ruling pending his newly filed Supreme Court appeal. But on May 3, Tabit indicated she would deny the motion but no formal order denying the motion has been filed.
The appeal says Tabit’s ruling is based on an interpretation of a 1909 state Supreme Court ruling regarding the removal of a road surveyor, who was a public official voted into office. The GOP says that ruling is inapplicable because Cornelius is not a public official. It also says Cornelius subjected himself to state party bylaws, with which his emergency removed complied.
Harris is being represented by Marc Williams and Shaina Massie of Nelson Mullins in Huntington and by Andrew Dornbos of Charleston. Cornelius is being represented by Tony Majestro and J.C. Powell of Powell & Majestro in Charleston.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 22-0194 (Kanawha Circuit Court case number 19-P-332)