Maynard Favors Public Financing of Elections

By JOSELYN KING
WHEELING — West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard likes the idea of public funding of judicial races in the state, but he has one reservation — he wonders if it won’t lead to personally wealthy candidates being the only ones to seek the bench.

The idea of publicly funding state judicial races is one that has been introduced in the West Virginia Legislature this year.

“I would welcome public funding of judicial races,” Maynard said. “But what do we do about the really wealthy people who want to run?

“You can’t stop people from spending their money, and only the richer candidates would run,” he added. “Campaign spending is speech, and it is protected.”

He acknowledged that public financing would help to keep candidates from raising money themselves. This practice can lead to ethics questions for the candidate if the contributor later has a case before the court.

That is why judicial candidates aren’t allowed to know who contributes to their campaigns.

The incumbent Maynard — a native of Williamson, W.Va. — is one of four Democratic candidates presently seeking one of two seats up for election this year on the state Supreme Court. Others in the race are Robert Bastress of Morgantown, Menis Ketchum of Huntington and Margaret Workman of Charleston. Republican Beth Walker of Charleston also is a candidate in the race.

The second incumbent, Justice Larry Starcher, chose not to seek re-election this year.

A second proposal discussed by the state Legislature this year was to make races for the state Supreme Court nonpartisan contests, and Maynard also doesn’t object to this idea.

“Whatever system we use to elect judges, it is not perfect,” he said. “There are some real serious deficiencies in all of them.

“I admit I have profited from the process and have won elections several times,” he added.

Nevertheless, Maynard said he thinks that electing justices in nonpartisan races would have a positive effect on the judicial system.

“Politics has no place in the court,” he said. “Everyone who comes before the court should be treated the same.”

Maynard has come under fire in recent weeks for his ties to Massey Energy Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship, whose appeal is before the court.

On Wednesday, Bastress called for an independent investigation in the wake of vacation photos that showed Maynard and Blankenship together in Monaco in 2006. Massey had several cases pending or headed toward West Virginia’s sole appeals court at the time.

Maynard has since recused himself from three of those cases, but Bastress believes unanswered questions remain about the trip and the pair’s longtime friendship.