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Fire the metaphorical starter's pistol, because the 2024 primary and general election season begins now as you are reading this.
The candidate filing period for statewide candidates continues through midnight Saturday, Jan. 27. Races on the statewide ballot include: U.S. president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, agricultural commissioner, attorney general, Supreme Court of Appeals, Intermediate Court of Appeals, state Senate and House of Delegates.
The candidate filing period always is an interesting time, especially watching to see what candidates choose to immediately file or who decides to file at the last minute. Once upon a time, the Secretary of State's Office used to offer a video livestream of candidate filings, making it a voyeuristic affair.
It feels like I've been covering the 2024 election since 2022, with all the various candidate announcements and pre-candidacy campaign finance filings. But once the clock hits midnight on Jan. 27, the candidates for the Republican and Democratic primaries will be mostly locked.
I've largely focused on high-profile candidates: those with political experience, an active base of support and large campaign finance accounts. Covering campaigns is like doing triage; while ideally you want to give everyone equal coverage, time really only allows for covering viable campaigns. Many people file their pre-candidacy paperwork and then never do anything else.
The same problem exists once the candidate filing period closes. Some will file paperwork and pay the fee to be on the ballot and then never lift another finger between Jan. 27 and the May 14 primary. But then they'll get mad at the press for not covering their "campaign." However, reporters are like the Tyrannosaurus rex: We respond to movement. In political terms, movement means activities, attending events, raising money, credible polls, etc.
Most importantly, movement means being proactive in communicating with the press. We can't cover what we don't know about. I encourage candidates to keep the press informed of their activities. Better yet, reach out and call, email and talk to reporters, even if it's just to make conversation.
But don't come complaining to me that a candidate isn't getting mentioned if that candidate has done nothing to date to reach out to me.
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Another candidate for statewide office has stepped down for their current elected office to focus on campaigning for the new office they're seeking.
Former delegate Caleb Hanna, R-Nicholas, resigned last week to focus on his race for the GOP nomination for state auditor. He joins two other House members: former delegate Moore Capito, R-Kanawha, resigned in December as he runs for the GOP nomination for governor; and former delegate and former House Minority Leader Doug Skaff, D-Kanawha, resigned his leadership position in the House Democratic caucus, then resigned from the House, then switched to the Republican Party. Skaff is now running for the GOP nomination for secretary of state.
I've seen some complaints about these resignations, especially Hanna's resignation. Some have called Hanna a quitter. Some have accused Hanna of self-interest.
I'm not writing to defend Hanna, but I do think it's a darned-if-you-do darned-if-you-don't situation. On one hand, sure, one can argue that these former lawmakers are flaking on their commitment to their constituents by resigning after being elected to serve. But they could also be criticized for not resigning and possibly missing committee meetings, key debates and votes while trying to campaign for higher office while also staying in office.
The annual general session of the West Virginia Legislature is 60 days beginning Wednesday through March 9. And the session only gets busier as days go by. I'm not sure one has to resign from the House or the state Senate to campaign for a statewide office. But if you are in a competitive race, you need the months of January, February, and March to get your name out there.
I believe there is no right or wrong answer here. A lawmaker also running for higher office needs to weigh the pros and cons of resigning from the Legislature to see if it is the right move.
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I wasn't aware of this until I started reading the 2024 edition of the Judicial Campaign Ethics Handbook but beginning this year, there is the possibility of judicial runoff elections.
Beginning this year, any candidate in a division for circuit court judge has to get more than 30% of the vote as of May 14 (the primary election date serves as the general election date for judicial races since they are nonpartisan). If the top judicial vote-getter can't get above 30%, that will trigger a run-off election on the November general election ballot between the two highest vote-getters.
To be clear, this provision only applies to circuit court races. It doesn't appear to apply to magistrate court races and it doesn't apply to West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals races or the first race for one of the three Intermediate Court of Appeals.
In the case of the state Supreme Court, it would probably take a constitutional amendment to allow for a run-off election. It would have made the 2018 special election for Supreme Court more interesting. Justice Tim Armstead, who is serving this year as chief justice, won his 2018 special election in a 10-person race by 26%. The runner-up in that race was the late Kanawha County Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit with 22%.
If there had been a run-off in that race, I wonder how that would have gone?