West Virginia Supreme Court Election Shows Effectiveness of Interest Groups

Stern, Seth, Judicature

It was five days before Election Day last year when West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals justice Warren McGraw came to a courthouse in the heart of coal country desperate to keep his job. Standing in a courtroom before the Mercer County Democratic Club, McGraw complained that he was the victim of the most "dishonest, fraudulent, scheming campaign ever conducted in this state." The audience of party faithful, many of whom were retired miners with the hacking coughs to prove it, nodded approvingly and applauded loudly.

But when the polls closed days later, McGraw would lose this once reliable county and the state as a whole, becoming the first sitting West Virginia Supreme Court …

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Publication information: Article title: West Virginia Supreme Court Election Shows Effectiveness of Interest Groups. Contributors: Stern, Seth - Author. Journal title: Judicature. Volume: 89. Issue: 1 Publication date: July/August 2005. Page number: 38+. © American Judicature Society Nov/Dec 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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