West Virginia
Exclusive: Complaint alleges West Virginia congressional candidate violated state election law – WOAY-TV
CHARLESTON, WV (WOAY) – A document obtained exclusively by WOAY lays out a formal complaint that alleges that Derrick Evans, a candidate who ran for the House of Representatives in West Virginia’s southern district, violated state law by registering to run for office while serving as a convicted felon.
However, the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office, while unable by law to comment on any specific formal complaints, says that felons on supervised release are not barred from registering with a party and voting.
The core argument of the complaint centers on Derrick Evans’s conviction and subsequent sentencing back in 2022. Evans pleaded guilty to a felony count of civil disorder following his presence at the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
He was sentenced to three months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and restitution for damage to the Capitol and fines. The complaint filed with the Secretary of State’s office focuses on the supervised release portion of that sentence.
Because Evans is still on supervised release, the complaint alleges that he is not allowed to be a registered Republican. It cites West Virginia state code §3-2-2, which states that any person convicted of a felony is ineligible to register or be registered to vote while serving their sentence. It defines those ineligible to be registered to vote as “any period of incarceration, probation, or parole related thereto.”
West Virginia state code §3-5-7 requires that candidates include the political party they are registered to vote with. The relevant piece of law reads “For partisan elections, the name of the candidate’s political party and a statement that the candidate: (A) Is a member of and affiliated with that political party as evidenced by the candidate’s current registration as a voter affiliated with that party.”
When Evans filed his paperwork to run for office, he entered the Republican primary as a registered Republican voter.
The complaint argues that this is a violation. However, additional West Virginia election regulations and laws make the matter less clear.
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s office says that it has long held the position that supervised release does not disqualify a person from voting, unlike probation and parole.
That’s backed up by state law, which does not explicitly say that people serving supervised release are disqualified from voting. The law only explicitly states that those incarcerated or on probation or parole are barred from voting. That distinction could play a role in any investigation into this complaint.
The Secretary of State’s office has sole jurisdiction over investigations into election law. They may pay members of the West Virginia attorney general’s office to conduct investigations for manpower purposes, but those investigations would still be overseen by the Secretary of State.
Should the investigation conclude that there was wrongdoing, it would get handed off to a county prosecutor. Additional sources close to the matter believe it could be prosecuted in any county in West Virginia’s first congressional district, since Evans was on the ballot in each of those counties. Regardless, the complaint will be investigated by the Secretary of State’s office before any legal action is taken, and the office could very well rule that it is unfounded.
The substance of this complaint is different from previous allegations that Evans was ineligible to run based on the Fourteenth Amendment.
Those complaints argued that because Evans was convicted of civil disorder in connection to riots at the Capitol, he was ineligible to run based on the 14th Amendment, which bans people convicted of treason or insurrection from holding federal office. However, the Secretary of State’s office previously told media that Evans was specifically not convicted of insurrection or treason and could run for office.
WOAY reached out to Evans for a statement on this story. Here is his response in full:
“The people of West Virginia — not any government bureaucrat, and CERTAINLY not any TV station — should decide who represents our state in Charleston or D.C.” – Derrick Evans
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Charleston held its Memorial Day service Monday.
People gathered at the Veterans Memorial at the West Virginia State Capitol.
The event honored the lives of those who died in service, as well as the first American soldiers from the American Revolution.
That distinction was part of the America 250 observances, creating a mixture of solemn remembrance and celebration for the lives that were lost in making America free.
The event was put on by the West Virginia chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Copyright 2026 WSAZ. All rights reserved.
A Virginia mother of three was allegedly lured to her death by a man she was romantically involved with, who dangled a job offer that convinced her to uproot her life and move more than 100 miles to West Virginia.
Angel Whitaker, 37, left her Bristol, Va., home in January 2026 for a new job in Bluefield, W.Va., after former work associate Donald Pennington, 59, allegedly offered her an assistant manager position at an O’Reilly Auto Parts in Bluefield, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WVNSTV.
Whitaker, who allegedly met Pennington at a Bristol auto shop in 2018 and began a relationship with him shortly after, moved in with him after relocating to West Virginia.
However, by April, her family had lost all contact with her, and on May 4, her sister Angela reported her missing.
Investigators said the relationship had grown strained after Whitaker moved in with Pennington, and in the weeks before her disappearance, her sister told police Whitaker had moved into a Princeton hotel to distance herself from the situation.
Whitaker was last seen on April 17, 2026, when she allegedly showed up to work intoxicated — Pennington told police he drove her home, but when he returned from work later that day, she was gone.
More than a week after Whitaker was reported missing, Pennington’s ex-girlfriend met with investigators on May 12 and told them, “You’re not going to find her, he murdered her.”
She also told investigators the two had been constantly arguing in the weeks before Whitaker vanished.
Investigators said Pennington had previously called his ex-girlfriend and told her he left work on April 17 to break up an argument between Whitaker and a family member, and that Whitaker had made threatening claims against him, according to WVNSTV.
He allegedly met his ex-girlfriend at a mall that same day and told her Whitaker had threatened to kill him — and that’s when he “snapped,” the complaint states.
The ex-girlfriend told investigators Pennington picked Whitaker up by her throat and choked her until she stopped breathing, then allegedly showed her a photo of Whitaker’s body taken from the victim’s phone.
Investigators also alleged Pennington disposed of Whitaker’s phones by soaking them in bleach and destroying their SIM cards.
The ex-girlfriend told investigators she later met Pennington at a Lowe’s in Bluefield, Va., where he purchased multiple bags of concrete before the two drove to Bastian, Va., about 18 miles away, where he allegedly buried Whitaker’s body.
She led investigators to the location, where Virginia State Police cadaver dogs were deployed but failed to locate Whitaker’s remains. She also handed over her phone to investigators, admitting she had deleted messages from Pennington about the alleged murder, according to WVNSTV.
Pennington was arrested on May 13 and is being held at West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority.
He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and concealment of a body.
Whitaker leaves behind three children — 18-year-old son Braiden, 17-year-old daughter Daizy and 12-year-old son Christopher — according to a GoFundMe set up by her family to help with funeral expenses.
West Virginia could have removed all doubt last night with a win over Kansas in the Big 12 Conference championship, but with the 9-0 loss, there is some concern from the fanbase as to whether or not the selection committee will exclude them from the top 16, which will be revealed tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.
If you ask me and many others, West Virginia’s resume is simply too good to ignore and should be locked into a hosting spot. Finishing the year with 21 wins in Big 12 play, sweeping the conference champs on the road, and losing just two series on the season is host-worthy.
So, where could the Mountaineers land in the top 16? Who are the other hosts? Here are my predictions.
My projected Top 16 (regional hosts)
No. 1: UCLA
No. 2: Georgia Tech
No. 3: North Carolina
No. 4: Georgia
No. 5: Auburn
No. 6: Texas
No. 7: Florida
No. 8: Florida State
No. 9: Alabama
No. 10: Texas A&M
No. 11: Southern Miss
No. 12: Kansas
No. 13: Oregon
No. 14: Nebraska
No. 15: West Virginia
No. 16: Arkansas
Comparing WVU to other possible hosts
Rankings in order of appearance: DSR, RPI, KPI = Average
West Virginia: 10, 17, 12 = 13
The Mountaineers dropped a couple of spots in the RPI and just one spot in the DSR and KPI following their loss in the title game to Kansas. With how tight the race has been for the final few host spots, it’s clear that they did themselves a massive favor by winning a couple of games in the conference tournament.
Arkansas: 13, 21, 13 = 15.6
The Razorbacks, in my opinion, have the best chance of the teams listed to be above West Virginia. I don’t see there being another that would kick WVU off the one line. Arkansas beat Tennessee, Texas, and Auburn en route to an appearance in the SEC championship game.
Ole Miss: 19, 16, 14 = 16.3
The Rebels went 5-5 in SEC series, leading to an even 15-15 mark. They didn’t help their cause by being a one-and-done in the conference tournament, losing to Missouri. Losing three of their last four will be on the committee’s mind.
Mississippi State: 12, 12, 11 = 11.6
While the metrics like the Bulldogs more than WVU and the others, they’re late season slide is going to impact their chances of hosting. Going 4-6 in their last 10 to end the regular season, and being swept by a projected No. 2 seed, Tennessee, will hurt them.
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