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CHARLESTON -- By the close of business Friday, 11 candidates have filed for two open seats on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
According to the West Virginia Secretary of State's office, six candidates have filed to fill the unexpired term of former Justice Menis Ketchum, whose term is up in 2020. Five candidates filed for the unexpired term of former Justice Robin Davis, whose term ends in 2024.
The two seats are divided into divisions on the November 6 ballot, with Ketchum's seat identified as Division 1 and Davis's seat identified as Division 2. Those wishing to file have until midnight.
Candidates for Division 1 include:
Harry Bruner, Jr. of Charleston. Bruner is a 1975 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law. He was most recently employed in the West Virginia Attorney General's Office as an assistant attorney general. He also ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican.
Robert Carlton of Williamson. Carlton is a bankruptcy and personal injury attorney with 29 years of experience. He graduated from Oral Roberts University with a law degree in 1986.
Carl Hostler of Scott Depot. Hostler is an attorney with the Prim Law Firm with 25 years of experience, focusing on labor law. He graduated from WVU College of Law in 1989.
Brenden Long of Hurricane. Long opened the Long Law Offices in Scott Depot. His focus is on business law, divorce, custody, wills and estates. He is a 2005 graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law. He also interned at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, worked as an assistant prosecutor in Kanawha County, and clerked for the 13th Judicial Circuit.
Marty Sheehan of Wheeling. Sheehan is the founding member of the Sheehan and Nugent law firm in Wheeling, where he focuses on bankruptcy law. He is a 1977 graduated of Duquesne's law school. He also lectures at WVU College of Law and is a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia.
13th Judicial Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit of Charleston. Tabit was appointed as a circuit court judge by former Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in 2014. She is a 1986 graduate of the WVU College of Law, and clerked for former state supreme court Justice Thomas McHugh. She also worked as a state assistant attorney general before joining the Steptoe and Johnson law firm in 1992.
Candidates for Division 2 include:
Rep. Evan Jenkins of Huntington. Jenkins is a Republican member of Congress, representing the Third District encompassing southern West Virginia. He ran for supreme court before in 2000. He has served in both the House of Delegates and state Senate, and was a candidate for U.S. Senate in May Republican primary, coming in second to Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. He is a 1987 graduate of the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.
D.C. Offutt, Jr. of Barboursville. Offutt is a managing member of the Offutt Nord Ashworth law firm in Huntington. He is a former deputy director of the former West Virginia Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. He is a 1978 graduate of the WVU College of Law.
William Schwartz of Charleston. Schwartz is an attorney with Harvit and Schwartz in Charleston, focusing on personal injury and asbestos. He is a 1988 graduate of Washington and lee University's law school.
Dennise Smith of Charleston. Smith practices law at Spilman Thomas and Battle in Charleston, where she focuses on workplace safety issues. She is a 1996 graduate of the WVU College of Law.
25th Judicial Circuit Judge William Thompson. Thompson was appointed to the circuit serving Lincoln and Boone counties in 2007 by former Gov. Joe Manchin. He graduated from the WVU College of Law in 1995.
Ketchum resigned from the supreme court July 27. Shortly after, he was charged in a federal information with one felony count of wire fraud after agreeing to a plea deal. A federal judge will decide whether to accept the deal during a plea hearing Thursday.
Davis resigned Aug. 14, after being impeached by the House of delegates the day before. She was charged in articles of impeachment with spending more than $500,000 on office renovations and furnishings, circumventing state law to overpay senior status judges, and for not adopting policies and procedures to prevent waste, fraud and abuse.
Additional candidates have until midnight on Tuesday to file either at the Secretary of State's Office in Charleston, the Secretary of State's Business Hubs in Clarksburg and Martinsburg, or candidates can mail their certificates of candidacy to the office as long as they're postmarked for Tuesday.