I received email last week for a Tuesday, Jan. 10, event being put on by the West Virginia Republican Party, titled a “Celebration of Success.”

The event will take place at the Charleston Convention Center and Coliseum and will include speeches from state Republican Party Chairwoman Elgine McArdle, Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.

It will also feature a segment, titled “Honoring those who paved the way.” This will include presentations from state Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, who at one point was the only Republican in the state Senate in the late 1980s; and Cabell County Commissioner Kelli Sobonya.

Part of the event will include a tribute to former Republican Secretary of State, candidate for governor, and former state Ethics Commission member Betty Ireland. Between the end of the term of the late Republican Governor Cecil Underwood in 2001 and the election of Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in 2012, Ireland was the only Republican on the Board of Public Works, serving as Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009.

But apparently, no one checked her most recent voter registration. She switched from Republican to no party affiliation in response to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and attack at the U.S. Capitol Building to stop the certification of the election due to former president Donald Trump not accepting the results of the 2020 election.

“I’m sick. I’m angry. I’m heartbroken for our country,” Ireland posted on Facebook that same day. “I have changed my registration to ‘no party registration.'”

If the state Republican Party is still honoring Ireland knowing this information, then good on them. She is worthy of being honored. But I also suspect with as Trumpy as the state party is right now, it’s likely that some would frown on honoring her. That’s a shame if that is the case.

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Speaking of Jan.6, a D.C.-based government watchdog wants state Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, investigated for being an attendee of Trump’s Stop the Steal rally.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) believe that Azinger and other elected officials should be investigated for engaging in an insurrection for violating his oath of office.

“Azinger is one of seven individuals named in the report that swore an oath to the Constitution and may have either participated in the insurrection or helped orchestrate other extra-legal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, culminating in the violent attack on the Capitol,” the press release stated.

It bases its claim on a story in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel where Azinger admitted to attending the Trump rally in front of the White House and being on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building, though he said he never once entered the building, staying in the “back edge” of the group that marched to the Capitol.

It seems a bit odd to be pushing this now in a press release nearly two years after the riot. All CREW’s information comes from publicly available sources like the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. The courts have enough on their hands prosecuting the people who entered the building and engaged in violence.

Having been on the grounds of the Capitol many times, there is an immense difference between someone who was outside the door to the Capitol and someone standing by a bench near Union Square. You can be on the grounds of the Capitol and not even realize you’re on the grounds of the Capitol.

Unless some new information comes forward showing Azinger doing more than standing around three blocks from the Capitol, I wouldn’t expect the U.S. Marshals to come knocking anytime soon.

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I knew that former Republican state senator and senate clerk Clark Barnes had moved back to West Virginia, but now he is back in the statehouse … sort of. Public affairs and lobbying firm Orion Strategies announced last week that Barnes will join the firm as a lobbyist.

Full disclosure: Barnes is taking a job my wife had until August. Also full disclosure: I worked for the Senate Clerk’s Office as a communications specialist from 2013 to 2017, and two years of that was working under Barnes.

Barnes was a Republican state senator representing a district that included much of central West Virginia, including Randolph County. He served as Senate Minority Whip, but decided to shift gears and move from an elected role to an administrative role as Senate Clerk. Do you like having archived video of Senate floor sessions and committee meetings? Barnes helped make that happen.

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And former Republican state senator and retired Department of Commerce secretary Ed Gaunch is joining the board of the conservative Cardinal Institute. He stepped down as Commerce secretary earlier this summer. After losing re-election in 2018, Gov. Jim Justice appointed Gaunch to the then-troubled department still suffering from the RISE West Virginia flood recovery scandal.

Gaunch very quietly helped turn the department around. However, the best parts of the department were spun off into the new Department of Economic Development. Still, Gaunch always kept a smile on his face and doing the job.

From: Steven Adams <sadams@newsa