West Virginia Governor Jim Justice Appoints New Delegate To Replace Derrick Evans Amid Controversy
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CHARLESTON -- Gov. Jim Justice announced Wednesday the appointment of Wayne County Republican Joshua Booth to replace Derrick Evans, the former delegate who resigned after accusations of illegal entry into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, even as a lawsuit challenging the governor's selection is pending.
"He is being appointed and I'm making that appointment today," Justice said Wednesday. "I feel very, very confident that Joshua Booth will do a wonderful job for the people of West Virginia."
Booth was one of three people submitted to Justice in a Jan. 22 letter from Roman Stauffer, acting chairman of the state Republican Party, to replace Evans, who faces two federal charges for his part in the insurrection intended to stop Congress from counting the Electoral College ballots on Jan. 6.
Booth works for Highway Safety Inc., a traffic control company owned by his family that specializes in road signs and striping based in Ceredo. Highway Safety is a vendor with the state, receiving more than $2.8 million in payments from the Division of Highways between July 2019 and June 2020 according to the Auditor's Office.
Booth's nomination is at the center of controversy following a lawsuit filed by the Wayne County Republican Executive Committee earlier this week. The committee is asking the state Supreme Court to require Justice to appoint a replacement for Evans from a list of three names submitted by the committee on Jan. 14.
John Bryan, an attorney representing the committee, said committee members submitted the names of Mark Ross, Chad Shaffer and Jay Marcum as nominees for Justice to choose from. According to State Code, vacancies for House seats are filled by either a county or delegate district political party executive committee. Committees have 15 days to submit a list of three qualified individual to the governor, who then has five days to choose one of the three names.
The Wayne County executive committee contends that after it submitted its letter to the governor with its three nominees, Stauffer sent his own letter to Justice replacing Shaffer with Booth. Stauffer, who became the acting chairman of the state Republican Party after the resignation of former chairwoman Melody Potter on Jan. 11, has declined to comment.
Justice, addressing the specific controversy, said he consulted with Chief of Staff Brian Abraham, previously general counsel for the governor's office, and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Justice feels confident that the selection of Booth will hold up in court.
"All I know from my general counsel and chief of staff is we've been in constant contact with the attorney general's office," Justice said. "We believe wholeheartedly that the second letter that was sent to us was the legitimate letter. I think this will have to be handled by the lawyers and not me, but that's about all I can give you right now."