Voters rejected judges who were appointed to West Virginia’s high courts, despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by outside groups to keep them on the bench.
Voters in both parties had the opportunity to elect judges to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and to the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals. And in all three races, West Virginians opted to oust the judges on the bench.
On the state Supreme Court, Gov. Patrick Morrisey had appointed Gerald Titus and Thomas Ewing to the bench last year after death and retirement opened two vacancies. Then-Gov. Jim Justice appointed Dan Greear to the Intermediate Court of Appeals in 2022.
A political campaign organization with links to conservative activist Lenoard Leo spent thousands of dollars to keep Titus and Greear on the bench. Leo is credited with helping pick a U.S. Supreme Court that would overturn abortion rights and the Voter’s Right Act.
Photo by Kirkpatrick Campaign Website
Titus, who started hearing cases in January, faced a crowded field of four other attorneys vying for a seat on the state’s highest court. On Tuesday night, retired Raleigh County Circuit Court Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick rose to the top, defeating Titus by around 10,000 votes.
Kirkpatrick led a folksy style campaign, appearing in social media advertisements discussing his recipe for pinto beans. But he also brought experience — nearly 30 years on the bench — having first been appointed by Gov. Gaston Caperton in 1996 to serve in circuit court.
He will serve for six years before he will be up for election again for a full 12-year term.
Black Bear PAC, a group that spent millions helping Morrisey’s election in 2024, also pushed thousands of dollars to help Titus.
The same PAC spent money to support Ewing. Del. Bill Flanigan, R-Ohio, beat Ewing by more than 30,000 votes. Flanigan will be up for reelection in two years to vie for a full 12-year term.
Photo by WV Legislature
Over the last two decades, outside interests have helped shift the state Supreme Court to the right, starting with the ouster in 2004 of progressive justice Warren McGraw after coal baron Don Blankenship funded attack ads against him.
How the new judges will steer the state’s high court remains to be seen. Flanigan, who served two non-consecutive terms in the House of Delegates, has broken ranks with his party before.
In the 2025 session, he pushed to amend a bill closing an exception to gender affirming care for minors to allow for children to gradually wean off their medication. He also voted against an attempt to undermine the state’s vaccine requirements for school children.
Kirkpatrick said he would fit in with the current makeup of the state Supreme Court. He described his judicial philosophy as being like a referee.
Photo by West Virginia Supreme Court
“I had a good friend that was a football and basketball official, and he always gave me this advice: He said, call them like you see them. Make your ruling based on your experience and your knowledge, and go on.”
Kanawha County Family Court Judge Jim Douglas beat current Intermediate Court Justice Dan Greear by 30,000 votes.
Douglas will be the first justice of the Intermediate Court with a family law background. Around a quarter of the court’s docket is family law appeals.
“People have to say, we’ve had enough,” Douglas said in an interview before the election. “We’ve had enough of this out-of-state money. And we’re not going to elect people that took out-of-state money.”
