CHARLESTON – The state Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, saying a lower court ruling to reinstate a once-ousted chairman of a count GOP executive committee can stand.
In an April 5 order, the court said Mark Harris’ appeal is moot, ordering the appeal dismissed from the docket.
In June, Harris appealed Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit’s February 2022 order granting Rob Cornelius’ petition and putting him back in charge of the Wood County Republican Executive Committee. Harris said Tabit’s ruling went against more than 100 years of state Supreme Court rulings.
“I’m glad the Supreme Court has finally ended this chapter of malfeasance by our state party,” Cornelius told The West Virginia Record. “We appreciate and respect the decision of the Kanawha County court and look forward to it being fully enforced on the state party.
“They’ve violated the rights of myself as well as the rights of thousands of voters in Wood County and Parkersburg. (Former state GOP Chairwoman) Melody Potter and the party literally believed they could cancel and election and that state law does not apply to our political party.”
Tabit’s ruling also had ordered Secretary of State Mac Warner to accept a list of county executive committee members submitted by Cornelius after Potter made changes to the committee’s leadership. Cornelius’ term has since ended, but Tabit’s ruling stands.
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’ appeal 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.”
The state GOP said Tabit erred by ruling the party’s procedures for emergency removal are not in contravention of state law. It said Tabit’s ruling was 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 was being represented by Marc Williams and Shaina Massie of Nelson Mullins in Huntington and by Andrew Dornbos of Charleston. Cornelius was 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)