Court battle brews as West Virginia GOP denies Dem appointment to vacant seat

A legal battle is brewing in West Virginia, as both Democrats and Republicans argue they have the legal right to fill a vacant state House seat.

According to the Journal-News, "The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals set a deadline Friday for Gov. Patrick Morrisey and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw to respond to a writ of mandamus filed earlier this week by the state Democratic Party requesting that a Democrat be appointed to the House of Delegates seat forfeited by Joseph de Soto."

Democratic Party leaders in West Virginia "are seeking the court to order Morrisey to appoint one of three names submitted by the Berkeley County Democratic Executive Committee to fill the vacancy created by the House on Jan. 8 when it adopted a resolution declaring the 91st House seat vacant after de Soto was unable to be sworn in for his two-year term," the report continued.

De Soto was elected as a Republican in an unopposed race to the 91st District last year; however, his career in the legislature exploded spectacularly before he could even be sworn in. House Republicans began investigating allegations that he had embellished both his military service and his credentials as a medical doctor. De Soto allegedly responded by making terroristic threats against some of the lawmakers investigating him, claiming that the angel Moroni had commanded their deaths.

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He was arrested in December and remains under home confinement pending trial. Earlier this month, the West Virginia House of Delegates passed a resolution declaring his seat vacant, as he was unable to take the oath of office.

But after lawmakers began investigating de Soto, he defected to the Democratic Party. Unlike in most states where a vacancy would be filled via a special election, West Virginia requires vacancies to be filled from a list of candidates selected by the party of the outgoing lawmaker. In this case, that would be the Democratic Party — even though de Soto was elected as a Republican and the 91st District voted for President-elect Donald Trump by a 2 to 1 margin.

Republicans declared in their resolution vacating de Soto's seat that the seat must be filled by a Republican because de Soto was never actually sworn in as a lawmaker, so the last person to serve in the seat was a Republican. Democratic leaders disagree and have fielded a list of Democratic candidates they say Morrisey is required to select from.