CHARLESTON — West Virginia Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Trump (R-Morgan) has announced he will run for the state Supreme Court.
Trump made the announcement last week on MetroNews' "Talkline" and said while he hadn't been planning to run, he decided after Justice John Hutchison's announcement it was something he wanted to do.
Trump said on the show that he thinks he can make a contribution to the important work of the court and the judiciary and that he would not have considered running if Hutchison had chosen to run for re-election.
"But in the wake of his announcement, I think I bring potentially a skill set that could be of benefit to the court," Trump said on "Talkline."
Trump spent 14 years in the state's House of Delegates and has been in the Senate since 2014. He became the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee beginning in 2015.
Hutchison announced with a letter to Chief Justice Beth Walker on June 1 his plans to retire when his seat runs out on Dec. 31, 2024.
"It is with mixed emotions that | am writing today to officially inform you and anyone in the public who might be interested, that | will not be seeking reelection to the Supreme Court of Appeals in the upcoming election cycle," Hutchison wrote in the letter. "| believe that the Court and others need to know of my intentions so that you can plan appropriately. Obviously, | am aware of the Court's desire to undertake a strategic planning process and you need to know who will be on the Court in the long term."
Hutchison wrote that it is also important for anyone desiring to seek election to the court to be aware of his intentions so that those who are interested have an opportunity to plan and organize.
"It is my intention, absent some unforeseen catastrophe, to complete my term on December 31, 2024," he wrote. "Serving as a member of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has been, for me, an honor and the capstone of my legal career."
At the end of 2024, Hutchison will have been serving in the legal profession for nearly 45 years, and nearly 30 years of that as a judge.
"When | came to the Court in January 2019 the judicial system was starting to come out of a very dark place," he wrote. "In the last five years, the New Court has made amazing strides in reestablishing the integrity of the third branch of government."
Hutchison was elected to serve out the rest of former Justice Allen Loughry's term.