CHARLESTON – One Republican candidate for state attorney general is calling out another for “substantial contributions” by personal injury attorneys.
Candidates were required to file third quarter financial reports by October 10. Mike Stuart, a state senator and former U.S. Attorney, was critical of contributions made to fellow candidate J.B. McCuskey’s campaign by “Democrat personal injury attorneys.”
“It’s disgusting,” Stuart said in a press release. “Personal injury lawyers that soaked the people of West Virginia of $142 million in fees for the opioid settlements are now investing heavily in a candidate for attorney general.”
McCuskey
He listed some of the attorneys who donated to McCuskey’s campaign, including Marvin Masters, Stephen Skinner and former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ben Salango.
“And many more of the wealthiest Democrat ambulance chasers in West Virginia are trying to buy the attorney general’s office ‘lock, stock and barrel’ by giving tens of thousands of dollars to J.B. McCuskey’s attorney general campaign,” Stuart said.
McCuskey’s campaign did not reply to numerous messages seeking comment. McCuskey currently is state auditor.
The third quarter financials show McCuskey reported $149,425 in contributions for the quarter that ended September 30 with a campaign balance of $564,689.26. Stuart brought in $45,730.60 during the quarter for a balance of $127,167.98. Fellow Republican Ryan Weld, a state senator, brought in $81,789.56 during the quarter and has a balance of $180,106.23. No Democrats have announced plans to run for the office.
“Personal injury lawyers are bankrolling J.B. McCuskey,” Stuart said. “Not only personal injury attorneys but liberal Democrat personal injury attorneys. They just hit the lottery with $142 million, and now they are going in for the kill. McCuskey’s donor list is a Christmas tree of Democrats including personal injury lawyers and special interests.
“Why are they spending so much money on J.B. McCuskey? Well, sadly, we all know the answer.”
Stuart also said he “will never sell the attorney general’s office to any special interest.”
“It’s time we put a stop to this type of disgusting conduct,” he said. “I will always take a hardline stance and stand up for our people, not wealthy ambulance chasers, and I’ll always fight corruption. … I hate corruption. It is a cancer in confidence of our citizens in good government,
“These Democrat personal injury lawyers are terrified that I’m going to win. They are desperate to find someone to beat me, and they will deliver truckloads of cash to do everything they can to defeat me. They are afraid of me because I am not ‘bought and sold’ by anyone and certainly not by Democrat personal injury lawyers.
“I have a record of taking on corruption. I am loyal only to the people of West Virginia.”
Stuart also is calling for a full review of the state Child Protective Services program, saying the state Department of Health and Human Resources should provide full disclosure and transparency after a Sissonville case in which two children were found locked in a barn earlier this month.
“Call it an intensive review or an investigation, it’s time that the people of West Virginia get a clear understanding of the operations of Child Protective Services so that we can restore confidence in the agency,” Stuart said. “We need to understand whether the challenges of CPS are mere manpower and funding issues or whether we have more troubling systemic issues.
“Adding more resources and more employees to a broken system will only result in a bigger system that remains badly broken.”