West Virginia
Trump promised to cut electric costs in half. In energy-rich West Virginia, bills now top mortgages
RAINELLE, W.Va. — Every month, Rebecca Michalski takes a deep breath before opening her electric bill. She lives on a fixed income, and heating her small house this winter has been staggering: Her February charge was $940.08 — more than her check.
It makes no sense. She turns the lights off during the day and only burns one lamp with an energy-efficient bulb in the living room at night, but she keeps falling further behind on payments. In desperation, she took out a loan after getting a cut-off notice during an extended arctic blast that kept the state’s heaters cranking when temperatures regularly dipped below zero.
“Every time you see that power bill, you’re just sick,” Michalski said, rifling through a stack of statements totaling thousands of dollars. “I already know before I open it. I just dread seeing how much.”
She’s taken to social media, demanding answers alongside thousands of other West Virginians, including those who have been posting screenshots of their monthly charges. They are angry and perplexed over soaring utility costs that are sometimes surpassing rents and mortgages in one of the most energy-rich, yet poorest, corners of America, where families have been forced to choose between paying for food or heat.
President Trump, as part of his campaign pitch to “make America affordable again,” promised to cut Americans’ electricity bills by half during his first year to 18 months in the White House.
“And if it doesn’t work out, you’ll say, ‘Oh well, I voted for him, I still got them down a lot,’” he said. “You will never have had energy so low as you will under a certain gentleman known as Donald J. Trump.”
It hasn’t worked out.
Instead, electricity increased 4.8% in February nationwide and piped natural gas prices rose 10.9%, both compared with a year earlier, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index. That surpassed inflation even before the attacks on Iran by the U.S. and Israel sent energy costs ballooning.
It’s becoming an increasingly aggravating issue for some voters. Rising electricity bills emerged as a campaign issue in recent elections, including during gubernatorial races won by Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia. Cost concerns are expected to surface during midterms this fall, and an analysis by the nonprofit PowerLines found residents are not likely to get a break any time soon because new gas and electricity rate hike requests could affect more than 80 million Americans.
An AP-NORC poll conducted in March also found 35% of U.S. adults were “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to afford electricity in the next few months.
“It’s breaking me. And there’s nothing that can be done for it, unless the president does something,” Michalski said about her skyrocketing power bills, adding she no longer supports Trump. “And I don’t see him doing it. He’s had plenty of time.”
Increased demand, extreme weather and events, upgrading and maintaining aging infrastructure and rising natural gas prices are pushing electricity bills higher. Rising energy costs could also be worsened by the Trump administration’s push to export more liquefied natural gas, because that tightens domestic supply.
Ratepayers are also wary as more power-gobbling data centers for artificial intelligence and cloud computing are built or warmly embraced by politicians in places like West Virginia — where residents deep in Trump country have gone from having the cheapest electricity rate nationwide in 2005, to experiencing one of the fastest increases in the country, far outpacing the national average, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
All in a place where people are living atop vast deposits of coal, oil and gas.
King Coal
Coal remains king here, but it wears a pricey crown. The state is an outlier nationwide because of its stubborn resistance to adopting cleaner, cheaper sources of energy. Instead, West Virginia clings to aging coal-fired electric plants more than anywhere else in the country — about 87% of all production. Its supermajority Republican-led government — there are only 11 Democrats in the House and Senate — has doubled down on this reliance, blaming past Democratic administrations for a war on coal fueled by increased federal regulations and restrictions, while Trump poses for photo ops with coal miners at the White House and regularly touts “beautiful, clean coal.”
“Lowering electricity prices is a top priority for President Trump,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers, blaming former President Joe Biden for the problem. “He is aggressively unleashing reliable energy sources like coal and natural gas.”
Trump has forced unprofitable coal-powered plants to remain open, rolled back pollution standards for them and provided hundreds of millions of dollars to improve them. He’s also streamlined permitting and regulations to push for mining expansion when coal mines had been shutting down in the state.
“If you’re not 100% in on coal, then you’re a traitor. … It’s like a measure of patriotism,” said Jamie Van Nostrand, policy director at the nonprofit Future of Heat Initiative and a former West Virginia University professor who wrote a book about the state’s reliance on coal energy. “I think if you went to the average West Virginian and said, ‘Yeah, we understand you want to support the coal industry, but do you want to support it to the extent that you’re OK paying twice as much as you should be for electricity?’”
The state’s average household electricity rate per kilowatt-hour has surged 73%, natural gas has increased 51% per 1,000 cubic feet and water has risen 45% per 1,000 gallons from 2015 to 2025, according to West Virginia’s Public Service Commission, a three-member panel. It includes a former power company lobbyist and the former head of the state coal association — appointed by the governor and charged with approving rate hikes.
Even though monthly bills remain higher in other states, salaries in West Virginia have simply not kept pace — it’s the only place in the country where the median inflation-adjusted household income was lower in 2023 than it was in 1970, according to the Urban Institute. That means residents are seeing larger chunks of their paychecks going to utilities compared to people in other places.
Michalski, who’s disabled and uses a walker to get around, said she tries not to run anything in her house that can suck electricity, including her air conditioning in summer. But she simply can’t turn off the heater. During the past year, her statements totaled over $5,000. She asked family for help paying the bill this winter, but said she’s now out of options.
She knows what’s next.
“They come and cut off your power. Then you’re sitting in the dark. And I see that happening,” she said. “And I think for a lot of other people, it’s gonna happen too.”
‘It only makes the rich richer’
Isolated by its beautiful, rugged mountains, West Virginia sits entirely within Appalachia and has long been listed at the bottom of a laundry list of failings, including poor health and a lack of education. Many residents from rural areas have lived on the same land for generations, watching a cycle of outside companies profit from extracting the state’s resources — from timber to coal and oil and gas — only to pollute and abandon communities afterward. Its people are known for being fiercely independent and proud despite their hardships, including a lack of clean drinking water that has persisted for decades in some areas, forcing residents in the southern coal fields to ferry jugs to and from roadside springs or abandoned mines while spending up to $250 a month for bottled water to cook with and drink. They also pay for public water piped into their homes that often runs black, yellow and brown.
Some, including those living in scenic areas where tourism is a major revenue driver, are protesting Big Tech companies rushing to build enormous data centers, fearing they could lead to the next cycle of outsiders taking advantage of the state’s resources. They have been loud over a lack of public input and transparency around plans to build the complexes, questioning noise pollution, huge water consumption and the effect on ratepayers’ electricity prices.
“We just roll back regulations and we keep being promised that deregulating and privatizing our systems is gonna fix everything, and it never does,” said Caitlin Ware, a pastor who advocates for clean water in southern West Virginia — her thoughts briefly interrupted as the electricity abruptly went off in her Sandyville United Methodist Church. “It only makes the rich richer, and it only puts us in a worse situation.”
In February, Gov. Patrick Morrisey proudly announced plans to build a data center on nearly 550 acres in Berkeley County.
“This $4 billion investment is a historic win that proves West Virginia can compete at the highest level for the global tech economy,” he said in a statement. It did not explain where the water or electricity would come from to run the 600 megawatt, 1.9 million square foot facility.
Morrisey’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Skyrocketing electricity costs and the growth of data centers, which can use enough power to run 100,000 homes, faced voter backlash in Georgia last fall where Democrats ousted two Republicans on the state’s utility regulatory commission for the first time in nearly two decades. Trump recently tried to ease Americans’ concerns by announcing a “ratepayer protection” pledge at the White House with Big Tech companies promising to bear the cost and produce their own energy, though it’s not clear how that would be enforced.
The reasons behind nationwide utility price hikes are complex and vary among regions. They include adding new transmission, distribution lines and power poles; increased brutal high and low temperatures; extreme weather events such as hurricanes and wildfires; and volatility in fuel costs such as surging gas prices during the war in Ukraine.
These all play a huge role in rising bills that have left some 80 million Americans struggling to pay their monthly gas and electric bills, said Charles Hua, founder of consumer advocacy organization PowerLines that found investor-owned gas and electric utility companies asked for nearly $31 billion in increases last year nationwide, double the amount requested a year earlier. He said utility costs have become the new affordability issue akin to soaring egg prices that previously enraged consumers, making it a possible player in this fall’s elections to control Congress.
“Electric bills have gone up 40% over the last five years,” he said. “This is likely to continue to rise. This is definitely something that the Trump administration and President Trump are very concerned about.”
In West Virginia, all 55 counties voted for Trump in 2024. But it was a Democratic stronghold for decades prior to the switch when coal mines were the lifeblood, and unions were virtually unbreakable. The state has struggled immensely under both parties: It has experienced a major brain drain, a devastating opioid epidemic, a growing elderly population and its coveted coal industry jobs have dried up with nothing to replace them. That leaves people who work minimum wage jobs, those on fixed incomes and even college-educated middle-class families with two paychecks being pushed to the breaking point with affordability issues, including rising car insurance, grocery bills, health care and housing.
Ashley Nicole Dixon of Danese works as a manager at a Dollar General store and has a teenage daughter at home and another in college. She flipped through bills on her phone totaling more than $5,000 charged last year for electricity in her house that’s just over 1,000 square feet, even though her air conditioner didn’t work last summer. She voted for Trump, but said she’s done with him because he and other Republican politicians in West Virginia’s Capitol aren’t looking out for her interests.
“I love West Virginia because it’s beautiful. But anymore, it’s just a sham from the local government all the way up to Charleston,” she said, adding she believes the state’s Public Service Commission should be elected, and Trump should send her a check since he promised to cut electricity bills in half.
“I have no choice. It has to be paid,” she said. “And that’s what makes me sick because now I’m going to have to go … take more money out of my savings account just to keep the lights on.”
‘Why is this so high?’
The coldest winter months were the hardest. Some people confined themselves to one room with small space heaters or used generators when they got behind on their electricity bills and were disconnected. Others were forced to choose between food, medicine and warmth, with some turning their thermostats down to 60 degrees and bundling up or coming out of retirement to take part-time jobs.
For some, the spiral began in November when their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits were put on hold due to the federal government shutdown. United Way’s Central West Virginia helpline saw more than a 1,300% increase during that time, and calls for help paying utilities were second only to housing last year.
More than one in three West Virginia households is considered energy burdened, spending more than 6% of their income on electricity and other fuel costs. Of those, about 20% are low-income residents who shoulder some of the highest energy costs in the state.
Last year, Trump fired the staff of a federal program that assists millions of low-income Americans with heating bills in the winter and proposed eliminating all of its funding in his budget — a move repeated this year. Congress allocated money for it, but billions of dollars were delayed due to the shutdown. However, many West Virginians falling behind on bills are not eligible to apply because they make just a little too much money.
Jennifer Brown of Kingwood lands in that category. She’s employed at West Virginia’s federally funded Head Start program for low-income children and her husband is a postal worker. They have four kids and during the winter months, their combined utilities can climb to $1,000 a month, eclipsing their $798 mortgage. They were on a payment plan for their gas this winter after receiving a shut-off notice, and she said they were still paying off a water bill from their previous home.
“Every month we get our utility bills, I’m so angry. I’m like, ‘Why is this so high?’” she said, adding it’s not unusual to pay $200 to $300 for electricity and the same for water, sewage and garbage combined every month. “And we can’t figure it out. Nothing seems to be wrong … and we’re not wasteful.”
It’s been a particularly tough burden for some small businesses to carry. In the western town of Ravenswood, just across the river from Ohio, some shop owners were forced to shut down this winter because they couldn’t pay their electric bills.
Heather Santee said the power at her bakery was abruptly terminated just ahead of Valentine’s Day. She was behind on her bill, but said she would have been able to pay the necessary chunk of the $4,000 she owed if she could have stayed open long enough to fulfill the holiday orders. Instead, the shut-off forced her out, leaving the tenants living in apartments upstairs without heat too.
“Once I started getting those high electric bills in the winter, I was like, ‘This will be what closes me down,’” she said, adding the bakery was her dream and the loss has her thinking maybe it would be better to just leave the state altogether. “West Virginia is holding back a lot of people because they are allowing these bills to be so high.”
She’s not alone. Just a couple blocks down the street, Anthony Crihfield Jones packed up his overstock retail shop, JCD Bargain and Trading, moving inventory to another warehouse because he can no longer afford to pay thousands of dollars in electricity charges for his home and businesses.
Even though he still supports Trump, after leaving the Democrats to vote Republican, he’s becoming increasingly concerned that neither party cares about struggling people in America.
“All I heard was … ‘Drill, baby, drill,’” he said, repeating Trump’s popular catchphrase to encourage domestic energy production. “OK. Well, they’re drillin’. Why’s my bill the same?”
___
Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/.
Mason writes for the Associated Press.
West Virginia
West Virginia delegate candidates in Wood County split on top issues, from manufacturing to health care rules
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – Candidates running for seats in the West Virginia House of Delegates in Wood County say their top priorities if elected range from job creation and workforce development to health care policy changes and infrastructure, as they make their case to voters ahead of the election.
Incumbent Delegate Vernon Criss, a Republican running in House District 12, said jobs would be his top focus, arguing Wood County has been left out of state efforts to attract manufacturing.
“It would be jobs,” Criss said. He pointed to what he described as $340 million available through a high-impact, jobs-related manufacturing fund for companies returning to West Virginia, saying the governor “has refused to use these dollars to help the county.” Criss also cited restoring highway funding and funding for drinking water and sewer projects as priorities.
Criss said he would also push for foster care legislation in the next session, noting the governor vetoed a foster care bill this year that he said would have helped families and relatives caring for children in the system.
In House District 13, Republican candidate Melissa McCrady said her leading priority is repealing the state’s certificate of need program, which she said restricts medical facilities and practices from opening in the state.
“The main issue that I would prioritize is the repeal of the certificate of need,” McCrady said, calling it a program that limits a “free market” approach to health care by requiring approvals before certain services can expand.
McCrady said she would also like to repeal the inventory tax on businesses, which she said makes West Virginia less attractive for economic growth. She also said she supports religious and philosophical vaccine exemptions for children and adults in response to future outbreaks.
On education, McCrady said she wants to give teachers and families more voice in Wood County and reduce what she called burdensome requirements and restrictions placed on classrooms. On jobs and cost of living, she said reducing taxes and regulations and allowing the market to develop would create more opportunity for residents.
Incumbent Delegate Scot Heckert, a Republican running in House District 13, said his top issues include “infrastructure, accountability” and school funding.
“Top issues right now is infrastructure, accountability, for the school funding,” Heckert said. He said policy changes depend in part on what he hears from residents, but added he believes the school aid formula should be reviewed and that traditional public schools, homeschooling and charter schools should be held to the same set of rules.
Heckert said the state needs to do more to support teachers and address long-term retirement funding costs. On jobs and workforce development, Heckert said building a workforce is essential and suggested the state should look at incentives and assistance programs to encourage employment.
Asked about transparency and accountability, Heckert said constituents can contact him directly.
“Any constituent of District 13 can call me anytime,” he said, adding, “You can’t have one without the other.”
Criss and McCrady also emphasized transparency as a priority. Criss said the budget process should remain open to the public, while McCrady said she wants to be accessible through office hours and multiple communication channels.
Candidate for House of Delegates district 12 Charles Hartzog was not available to be interviewed.
Voters in Wood County will choose their delegates in House Districts 12 and 13 in the upcoming election. Details on early voting and Election Day locations are available through the county clerk’s office.
Editor’s note: The video for this story will be added once it airs. Please check back for the updated video.
Copyright 2026 WTAP. All rights reserved.
Charleston, W.Va. — An abrupt closure at a Charleston recovery home last week left residents searching for a new place to stay, but members of the local recovery community stepped in to help keep many of them on track.
PAAC House closed its doors Friday after funding issues left employees unpaid for nearly a month, displacing 14 residents, many of whom were still in early sobriety.
For former resident John Boso, the closure came after weeks of uncertainty.
“Services started dropping off, we’d have less counseling, less things going on,” Boso said. “And then before we know it, it’s like, you’ve got to find somewhere else to go.”
Caroline Paxton, a founder of the nonprofit True Freedom, said the sudden disruption raised immediate concerns about residents’ stability.
“I think especially in early sobriety, that’s really stressful for anyone. And so our biggest concern was we want to make sure they were able to continue to stay sober and continue on this like recovery journey,” Paxton said.
Paxton and fellow True Freedom founder Michael Paxton said they already knew many of the men through the nonprofit’s meetings. When they learned the residents had just four days’ notice to find new housing, they began working to secure placements — a process that often involves applications, interviews and fees.
They connected with HopeWorks, a recently opened home, and worked to fast-track interviews the next day. HopeWorks Director Catherine Tyler said she fortunately had many beds open and their transition has been smooth so far.
“They’re doing great so far,” said Tyler. “They are already buddies from the PAAC House, and I think that’s going to be really good for them.”
Six of the men were able to stay together, something former residents said has been critical to their recovery.
“It’s awesome that we’re all together,” one resident said. “Brotherhood was the biggest thing we had going for us. That was the only thing we were sure of.”
The men said despite the sudden closure, due to securing placements they have been able to continue attending meetings and focusing on recovery.
Several residents said they feared the disruption could have pushed them backward in their recovery.
“I was hopeless thought I was going to go right back to the life I was living then bam Mike and Caroline to the rescue it was great,” Alden Smith said.
“I thought I had come all this way for nothing,” said Christian Taylor.
Michael Paxton said helping the men find stability has been worth every effort.
“Just to know these guys, know that they’re safe and they have a place they’re loved. You know, they still have another chance at life,” he said.
Those involved encouraged anyone struggling with addiction to reach out to True Freedom.
West Virginia
West Virginians weigh in on two races for unexpired terms to state Supreme Court – WV MetroNews
West Virginia voters will play a heavy role in shaping the state Supreme Court, which has two of five seats on the ballot.
Although this is a primary election for many other races, it’s the final say-so for these two seats on the state’s highest court.
One election is for an unexpired term to fill the seat formerly held by Justice Beth Walker, who retired last year. The term expires in 2028. Two candidates are running for this seat.
The other election is for an unexpired term to fill the seat formerly held by Justice Tim Armstead, who died last year. Candidates are running to fill out the term that expires in 2032. Five candidates are vying to fill this seat.
Former Walker seat, two years on term
Thomas Ewing was appointed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey to fill the unexpired term until the election.
“What I’ve done is public record,” he said on MetroNews Talkline.
“I’m not running from that. It’s sort of my resume or my statement to the voters. I’ve demonstrated to you how I’ll do this job.”
Ewing served as circuit court judge in Fayette County for eight years before being appointed to the Supreme Court last year.
As a circuit judge, he presided over the Fayette County Adult Treatment Court. He also established and presided over several other programs, including the Fayette County Family Treatment Court, the Fayette County Teen Court and the Fayette County Truancy Diversion Program.
“I think it’s important to continue to have someone with circuit court experience on the Supreme Court,” he said.
He grew up in Hico and is a graduate of Midland Trail High School. He graduated college from Glenville State, where he was captain of the basketball team, and then the West Virginia University College of Law.
From 2004 until 2018, he practiced law with the firm Kay, Casto & Chaney.
“For me, my personal integrity matters, and if you don’t have personal integrity, if you don’t hold yourself personally accountable, then I don’t see how you can uphold the integrity of the judiciary,” he said.
Bill Flanigan is the other challenger for the seat vacated by Walker.
Flanigan is a Wheeling attorney and a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Ohio County. The Supreme Court race is nonpartisan.
“What I tried to do as a legislator and what I want to do on the court is that our laws should be written in a way that are clear and precise, easily applied and within the purviews of the Constitution as it was originally constructed,” he said on Talkline.
He was first appointed to the House of Delegates in 2016 as a Republican representing Monongalia County, but a cancer diagnosis at that time prevented him from seeking election to the seat.
Flanigan and his family moved from Monongalia County to Ohio County so his son could participate in a program for students with dyslexia. After moving to Ohio County, Flanigan was elected to the House in 2024 and currently serves that district.
Flanigan earned his bachelor’s degree from Salem Teikyo University and his law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law.
“I fell in love with the Constitution. I fell in love with the law — how it affects us, what it does for us and how it can apply to each of us as citizens,” he said.
Former Armstead seat, six years on term
Gerald Titus III was appointed by the governor to fill the unexpired term until the election.
“For me, courts, judges should not legislate, should not wade into policy issues — they should let those leaders lead and simply apply the law,” he said on Talkline.
“My job is very simple. It doesn’t mean it’s easy. There are times that it’s weighty and challenging. But for our government to function properly, I think the court plays a vital but limited role.”
Titus, a Charleston attorney, has 22 years of experience in law practice.
Before his appointment to the Supreme Court, he was an attorney with the Charleston-based law firm Spilman Thomas and Battle
He previously served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, where he worked in the Violent Crime Division.
He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where he earned both a bachelor’s degree in politics and American history and his law degree.
“I just found myself in a place where I wanted to do more, where I wanted to put that experience to use. I’m in the absolute prime of my legal career. I feel like I have the most to give now as I ever will,” he said.
Laura Faircloth is a veteran attorney who has served as a circuit judge in the Eastern Panhandle for nearly a decade.
She was first elected in 2016 to the 23rd Judicial Circuit covering Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan counties and then was elected in 2024 to the newly created 27th Judicial Circuit, which serves Berkeley and Morgan counties.
“I am the only independent registered to run in this contested election in division one. I’m also the only woman who is running,” Faircloth said on Talkline, referring to her personal voter registration.
“I’m not a good old boy, and I don’t subscribe to backroom politics, which is where deals are made oftentimes. That’s never going to happen in my courtroom, and it will not happen if I’m a justice on the Supreme Court of West Virginia.”
Before her time on the bench, she led her own six-person law firm in Martinsburg.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Shepherd University and got her law degree from the WVU College of Law.
“We are like umpires in a baseball game: We call fouls, strikes and balls. We call outs and safe. And that’s it. And to do anything more is trying to assume a role that we are not permitted to assume because the sanctity of the judiciary is not to allow that,” she said.
Todd Kirby is is a circuit judge in Raleigh County and a former Republican member of the House of Delegates.
In the House, he represented the 44th District in Raleigh County starting in 2023.
He was appointed to the bench by then-Gov. Jim Justice in July 2024 to fill a vacancy and successfully won election to the seat that same year.
“There’s a long history of West Virginia Supreme Court justices having served in the Legislature,” Kirby said on Talkline.
Earlier this year, Kirby appeared at a Health Freedom Day rally at the West Virginia Legislature that focused on school vaccination requirements. But he said his appearance was an expression of his principles and should not be interpreted as him taking a stance on specific cases that might come before the court.
Kirby recused himself from a school vaccine exemptions case in Raleigh Circuit Court last year because of votes he had taken at the Legislature.
Kirby opened his own law practice in Beckley in 2011. His career has been heavily focused on child welfare, including serving as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Raleigh County handling child abuse and neglect cases. He has also worked as a guardian ad litem and as an attorney representing foster parents and respondent parents.
He graduated from Marshall University and got his law degree from Liberty University.
“My area of expertise has been the law and of course now as a circuit court judge. I feel like I have the experience as an assistant prosecutor, as an attorney for respondent parents, for foster kids, as guardian ad litem, my time on the House Judiciary Committee,” he said.
“My conservative credentials and my background, I feel like I’m the right candidate for the state at this time in its history.”
H.L. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick is a senior status judge and a long-time circuit court judge in Raleigh County with more than 30 years of experience on the bench.
“I decided I had plenty of life in me and I could serve West Virginia by serving on the Supreme Court,” Kirkpatrick said on Talkline.
He was first appointed to the bench in Raleigh County by then-Gov. Gaston Caperton in 1995 and was then elected in 1996. He served as the chief judge of the Raleigh County circuit and retired in December 2024.
“I look at myself as a referee,” Kirkpatrick said. “We are required to be impartial and be fair and apply the law in a fair manner.”
Kirkpatrick administered the Raleigh County juvenile drug court for 10 years. He also served on the state Judicial Investigation Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the Code of Judicial Conduct for judges and justices.
After retirement, he was appointed as a senior status judge, a role that allows him to be recalled for temporary assignments.
That way, he presided over the high-profile murder trial of Natalie Cochran, a pharmacist convicted of using insulin to fatally poison her husband. He also filled a vacancy on the Fayette County Circuit Court when Thomas Ewing was appointed to the Supreme Court.
He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and earned his law degree from West Virginia University.
“My strong suit is my experience,” Kirkpatrick said. “I’ve presided over every conceivable type of trial and case from speeding ticket appeals to murder trials. I’ve handled just about anything that could come down the pike.”
Martin “Red Hat” Sheehan is a veteran Wheeling attorney with 45 years in the legal profession, during which he says he has done a little bit of everything.
Sheehan is a former assistant U.S. attorney and federal prosecutor. He has been in private practice since 1990.
He is the former chairman of the Ohio County Republican Executive Committee and has previously run for a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates as a Republican.
Sheehan, speaking on Talkline, said he has been motivated by a backlog in the judicial system.
“I think that’s the big issue for me in this particular campaign is to try to get action by the court in a more timely way,” Sheehan said.
“The court loses its moral authority to help the circuit courts to manage their caseloads as well by not being able to take care of its own house.”
Sheehan notably sued the West Virginia Judicial Investigations Commission in federal court, challenging a rule that prevents judicial candidates from speaking publicly about issues likely to come before the court. He argued the rule is unconstitutional.
“I think I’m dedicated to trying to get something done,” he said. “The problem is it’s very hard for the judges to campaign. I’ve also brought suit, somewhat unsuccessfully at this time, to declare a couple of cannons in the judicial code unconstitutional because they limit the ability to have contact with the public as candidates.
“What you’ll see is, everybody running for the Supreme Court says they’re people of integrity, people of experience, whatever, and nobody is talking about any serious issues about how to fix things at the court.”
Sheehan got his bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and his law degree from Duquesne.
While he appears with the nickname “Red Hat” on the ballot, he was previously known on ballots as “Red Shoes” because of his choice of flamboyant footwear.
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