Bill Flanigan

CHARLESTON – An Ohio County resident was one of three candidates to defeat appointees by Gov. Patrick Morrisey to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and one of the first appointees to the new Intermediate Court of Appeals on Tuesday night.

According to preliminary election results reported to the Secretary of State’s Office with 52 out of 55 counties reporting as of press time, Del. Bill Flanigan, R-Ohio, won the Division 2 race for the State Supreme Court. Flanigan had 113,091 votes, giving him 58.1% of the vote. Justice Thomas Ewing – whom Morrisey appointed to succeed Justice Elizabeth “Beth” D. Walker, who retired effective last June – came in second with 81,571 votes (42%).

Flanigan is finishing out his second two-year term in the House of Delegates representing the 4th District, where he served on the House Judiciary Committee and Courts and Legal Services subcommittees. He also served on legislative interim committees for Children and Families, Judiciary and West Virginia Fusion Center Oversight. Flanigan will serve the remainder of Walker’s term, which is up in 2028.

“Tonight, the people of West Virginia spoke clearly, and I am deeply humbled and honored by the trust they have placed in me to serve on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals,” Flanigan said in a statement. “I want to thank every voter who participated in this election, regardless of who they supported. Our courts belong to the people, and tonight’s result reflects the enduring faith West Virginians place in the rule of law, fairness, and constitutional government.”

Senior Status Judge H.L. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick won election to the state Supreme Court Division 1 seat with 65,512 votes (31.1%). Kirkpatrick will serve the remainder of the late Justice Tim Armstead’s 12-year term, which is up in 2032.

Kirkpatrick has more than 30 years of judicial experience, having served as the chief judge of the Raleigh County circuit. He administered the circuit’s juvenile drug court for 10 years and served as a member of the state Judicial Investigation Commission which enforces the Code of Judicial Conduct for sitting judges and justices. He retired in 2024.

“First, I want to thank the voters and all my supporters, and most importantly, my long-suffering wife of 51 years who has put up with me that very long, and I’m not sure how she’s done it. But she’s been a wonderful supporter for all of our marriage, and particularly during this close campaign,” Kirkpatrick said Tuesday night when reached by phone.

“This has been a hard-fought campaign,” Kirkpatrick continued. “I’ve traveled to almost every county in the state. And I have spent a lot of time on the road, meeting people and greeting people and eating ramps and beans and fried chicken and doing everything that a candidate is required to do. And so, I’m very grateful to the folks that supported me and to my own little wife.”

Justice Gerald Titus III – appointed by Morrisey last November to serve on the state’s highest court and succeed Armstead, who died last August due to complications from cancer – came in second with 55,568 votes (26.4%). Titus was an attorney with the Spilman Thomas and Battle law firm based in Charleston and a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia working in the Violent Crime Division.

Other Supreme Court District 1 candidates include 27th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Laura V. Faircloth with 44,106 votes (20.1%), 14th Judicial Circuit Judge Todd Kirby with 26,693 votes (12.7%), and Wheeling attorney Martin “Red Hat” Sheehan with 18,945 votes (9%).

In the race for a permanent seat on the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA), 11th Family Circuit Court Judge Jim Douglas won with 111,284 votes, or 59% of the vote. ICA Judge Dan Greear came in second with 77,828 votes, or 41.2% of the vote. Greear is one of the ICA’s original judges, appointed by former Gov. Jim Justice in 2021. Douglas will serve for a full 10-year term.

“I, a Democrat, won a statewide race, in ruby-red WV, taking 51 of the State’s 55 Counties,” Douglas said in an emailed statement. “The Northern and Eastern panhandles carried me by a wide margin. I will be the fifth Judge ever installed on the ICA in January 2027.

Judicial elections in West Virginia are nonpartisan, and Tuesday’s primary election serves as the general election for judicial races. Official winners of Tuesday’s judicial elections will take office next January.