Turning the Bench Red: WV GOP Undermines Judicial Independence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 12, 2025

Contacts: Julie Archer, Deputy Director  — WV Citizen Action Group

julie@wvcag.org | 304-610-9094

Jillian Welsh, Communications Coordinator — WV Citizen Action Group

jillian@wvcag.org | 562-305-5769

Statement from West Virginia Citizen Action Group on SB 521 and HB 2719:

Turning the Bench Red: WV GOP Undermines Judicial Independence

Charleston, WV — Republicans in the WV Legislature continue to address non-problems and minor problems while ignoring emergencies. The bill (SB 521) that the Senate just passed, making judicial elections partisan again, is no exception. Political extremists are recklessly changing the way we elect judges in West Virginia and our court system for partisan political gain.

Judges Should Serve the Law, Not a Party

A judge plays a role different from that of a legislator or executive branch official. Judges don’t wear red or blue robes; they wear black robes because they are there to uphold the rule of law. Rather than making decisions based on their personal beliefs or party platforms, a judge makes decisions based on West Virginia’s constitution and the facts of each case.

While acknowledging the partisan nature of politics in our courts may be refreshing, it is hardly a high priority for reform. The biggest problem with judicial elections remains the corrupt, broken campaign finance system. Elections require judges to campaign, and campaigns require money, which opens judicial candidates up to special interest influence. 

Justice Should Be Fair and Impartial

Justice should be blind, but big money can distort a judge’s vision and undermine trust in the judiciary. West Virginia’s public campaign financing program sought to protect judges from the pressures and conflicts of interest that campaign fundraising creates. Eliminating this program for Supreme Court elections is disappointing, but in 2025, its demise is just another failure of our broken electoral system. 

WV Citizen Action Group and its partners fought to establish public financing for elections, but we could not have imagined how corrupt campaigns and offices would become. Unlimited dark money has made Supreme Court campaigns so expensive that a candidate who chooses public funding can’t compete with candidates supported by billionaires. 

The public campaign financing program has never had adequate funding, and as judicial elections across the US become more expensive, our program failed to keep up. In this year’s Supreme Court election in Wisconsin, Elon Musk alone has already spent $10 million to try to install a right-wing justice. If West Virginia’s Supreme Court ever fails to deliver for Musk and other kleptocrats, we expect the same to happen here. Any other reform is superficial if we don’t or can’t address the problem of oligarchs buying elections.

Protecting the Integrity of Our Courts

Sadly, Republicans in the House of Delegates have prioritized allowing corporate contributions to candidates and political parties (HB 2719). Most people agree that today’s elected leaders don’t represent regular people but rather the big-moneyed interests that employ lobbyists and spend millions on elections to protect their agendas. 

These wealthy special interests already have too much power to shape public policy. Their principal agenda is their bottom line, not the health and well-being of West Virginians. Injecting more money into an already broken system will only deepen its dysfunction, worsening imbalances and obstructing real solutions to the critical problems affecting people’s lives.