Resolution for term limits gains support from state constitutional officers
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CHARLESTON -- Constitutional elected members of West Virginia's Board of Public Works came out Wednesday in support of a resolution to limit their terms in office.
State Treasurer Riley Moore, State Auditor J.B. McCuskey, Secretary of State Mac Warner, Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to lend their support to Senate Joint Resolution 11.
SJR 11, the Constitutional Officer Term Limit Amendment, would amend the West Virginia Constitution to limit the office holders for secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and attorney general to no more than three terms in office starting in 2024.
"This will be a tremendous opportunity for us to finally restrain executive power," Moore said. "We've come here as a collective group to say we are tired of the policies of the past of having individuals sit in these offices for decades upon decades. We think this the best way forward in terms of governance and transparency and accountability here in the State of West Virginia."
The way the resolution is written, the proposed amendment would also apply to Moore, McCuskey, Warner, Leonhardt and Morrisey if adopted by two-thirds vote of both the state Senate and the House of Delegates and approved by voters in a special election in 2022. Senate Majority Whip Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, is the lead sponsor of the resolution.
"It's something (Moore) and I spoke about back when he was in the House of Delegates," Weld said. "It really does represent a good governance idea … it ensures we always have fresh ideas and a fresh person in that position."
West Virginia governors are limited to two terms with Gov. Jim Justice in his second and final term. The state also limits county sheriffs to two terms. But other constitutional officers in the executive branch are not term-limited.
McCuskey, Warner, and Leonhardt were re-elected in November to their second terms in office, while Morrisey, who in 2016 said his second term would be his last term, won re-election to a third term in 2020. Morrisey was unable to attend Wednesday's press conference, but sent a statement of support.
"I'm happy to support the resolution to establish term limits for the Board of Public Works," Morrisey said. "I have pushed for a similar resolution in the past and believe it will restore more power back to the people."
Moore, who ran on term limits as part of his platform, defeated John Perdue, a six-term Democratic state treasurer, in 2020, becoming the first Republican elected to that seat since the Great Depression. Now all of the state constitutional officers are Republicans, with Justice switching parties from Democrat to Republican in 2017.
Now in his first term, Moore said supporting the resolution was his way of keeping his campaign promise.
"I ran on this," Moore said. "I talked to people around the state for two years about this and this was something that was unanimously supported, whether it was a Democrat or a Republican I was speaking to."
West Virginia has several examples of constitutional officers who stayed in office for decades. Former Democratic attorney general Darrell McGraw first took office in 1993 and served five terms before Morrisey defeated him in 2012. Democrat Glen Gainer Jr. served four terms as state auditor from 1977 to 1992. His son, Glen Gainer III, served as state auditor for six terms starting in 1993 until his resignation and retirement in 2016.
"It occurred to me it had been quite a while since we had a new auditor, and particularly the Auditor's Office had pretty minimal turnover for roughly 50 years prior to my arrival," McCuskey said. "We all are in charge of offices that have an incredible evolving set of technology and evolving set of issues … and it's really important to make sure that we are always having new eyes with fresh energy looking at all the problems."
Except for a four-year period starting in 1988 when he attempted a run for governor, former Democratic agriculture commissioner Gus Douglass served as the state's top farmer from 1964 until 2012, a total of 11 terms, making Douglass the longest-serving state agriculture official in U.S. history before his retirement.
"I'm only the 10th person to be the commissioner of agriculture in the State of West Virginia," Leonhardt said. "In the same time, there have been 23 governors. You have to open it up for a younger generation of leaders to be able to move up in the ranks and show what they have learned during their time as West Virginians."
Combining the years of elected service of Douglass, Perdue, the Gainer's, and McGraw, the four former constitutional officers served a combined 132 years in office -- more than four-fifths of the state's existence.
"The idea here is the government that works best is closest to the people. Term limits ensure that," Warner said. "You're going to bring people's expertise in and out. The power of incumbency is what allows somebody to stay in one of these offices."
(Adams can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)