WESPAC Makes Primary Election Endorsements

WESPAC, the political action committee of the West Virginia State Medical Association, has made its endorsements in the 2008 Primary Election races. Of all the important races this election cycle, the most critical is that of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. WESPAC has taken a lead on this race and is focusing its efforts on getting two healthcare friendly candidates elected, Justice Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard and Beth Walker. 

Additionally four physicians are among the many candidates endorsed by WESPAC in the House and Senate races.

Dr. Marshall Long (D) is a current member of the House of Delegates from Mercer County's 25th District and is running for re-election. Dr. Long is a family practice physician in Princeton. Dr. Margaret Anne Staggers (D) is also a current Member of the House running for re-election.  Dr. Staggers is from Fayette County's 29th House District and is an emergency medicine physician. Dr. Frederick Gillespie (R) is an ophthalmologist in Parkersburg. Dr Gillespie is running for election to Wood County's 10th House District. Dr. Dan Foster (D) is a current member of the Senate running for re-election to the 17th District in Kanawha County.  Dr Foster is a retired surgeon and is currently a hospital administrator.

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Supreme Court Race - #1 Most Important Race this Election

Why is the West Virginia Supreme Court race so important to you?  The West Virginia Supreme Court has the final word on numerous issues critical to the practice of medicine.  Our hard fought medical liability reforms legislation has been under attack since its passage.  Of the five seats on our Supreme Court, two are up for election.  It only takes three votes to uphold or crumble our medical liability reforms.  It is critical that West Virginia elect justices who will uphold our reforms.
WESPAC has endorsed Justice Spike Maynard (D) for re-election and Beth Walker (R) to fill the seat vacated by retiring Justice Larry Starcher.  Both Maynard and Walker will bring balance and integrity to the court and have indicated their support for upholding the current medical liability laws. 

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Early Voting Is Going On Now

Voting has never been so convenient. Now no one should have an excuse for not voting. Below is information from the Secretary of State on early voting. Check online at http://www.wvvotes.com/ or with your county clerk for early voting hours and location. 

WHERE? - The Clerk of the County Commission (County Clerk) holds the responsibility for early voting. The location will be in the County Courthouse or on the property of the courthouse.

WHEN? - See the Absentee Calendar at www.wvvotes.com for specific dates and Early Voting Hours by County. The regular period of early voting in person begins twenty days before the election and continues until three days before the election. Voting is available during regular business hours and may be available two Saturdays before the election. 

HOW? - Go to the County Clerk's Office and ask to vote early in-person. You will then vote as you would on election day, in a voting booth just as at the precinct. If a paper ballot is used, your voted ballot will be sealed in an envelope and placed in the ballot box.
On election day, your ballot will go to the precinct where it will be counted or placed with other ballots for computer tabulation.

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Independent Voter Alert

Independent voters and voters who marked "no party affiliation" on their voter registration form for the first time this election will be able to vote in the Democratic, Republican or Mountain Party's Primary on May 13.  However, what most don't understand is that you must request the partisan ballot of your choice otherwise you will be handed the non-partisan ballot which only lets you vote for School Board candidates. 

Poll workers by law are not allowed to offer a partisan ballot.  

When you go to vote, remember to specifically ask for a Democratic, Republican or Mountain Party ballot before entering the voting booth.  Otherwise you will be extremely limited on the races for which you can vote.

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2008 Primary Election Endorsments

The following are the WESPAC endorsements for the 2008 Primary Election. For the first time in West Virginia history, voters registered as Independents may vote in either the Democrat or Republican primary.

WESPAC endorses healthcare friendly candidates who will promote initiatives supported by the WVSMA and the physician community. WESPAC is proud to support physician candidates!

WESPAC is a voluntary, by-partisan, unincorporated organization composed of physicians, residents medical students and their spouses and is a separate segregated fund established by the West Virginia State Medical Association (WVSMA).

Office	Party	Candidate	County
U.S. House of Representatives -- 2nd Congressional District	R	Shelley Moore Capito	Kanawha
Governor	D	Joe Manchin, III	Marion
Attorney General	R	Dan Greear	Kanawha
Supreme Court*	D	Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard	Kanawha
Supreme Court*	R	Beth Walker	Kanawha
State Senate -- 1st	D	Jack Yost	Brooke
State Senate -- 2nd	D	Jeffrey V. Kessler	Marshall
State Senate -- 3rd	R	Donna J. Boley	Pleasants
State Senate -- 4th	R	Karen L. Facemyer	Jackson
State Senate -- 5th	D	Robert H. "Bob" Plymale	Wayne
State Senate -- 6th	D	John Pat Fanning	McDowell
State Senate -- 7th	D	Earl Ray Tomblin	Logan
State Senate -- 8th	D	Corey Palumbo	Kanawha
State Senate -- 9th	D	Richard Browning	Wyoming
State Senate -- 10th	R	Donald T. Caruth	Mercer
State Senate -- 11th	D	William R. Laird IV	Fayette
State Senate -- 12th	D	Doug Stalnaker	Lewis
State Senate -- 13th	D	Roman W. Prezioso, Jr	Marion
State Senate -- 14th	D	Bob Williams	Taylor
State Senate -- 16th	R	Rusty Morgan III	Jefferson
State Senate -- 17th	D	Dan Foster	Kanawha
House of Delegates -- 1st	R	Pat McGeehan	Hancock
House of Delegates -- 2nd	D	Tim Ennis	Brooke
House of Delegates -- 4th	D	Michael T. Ferro	Marshall
House of Delegates -- 4th	D	Scott G. Varner	Marshall
House of Delegates -- 5th	D	Dave Pethtel	Wetzel
House of Delegates -- 6th	R	Wm. Roger Romine	Tyler
House of Delegates -- 7th	R	Lynwood "Woody" Ireland	Ritchie
House of Delegates -- 8th	R	E. W. "Bill" Anderson	Wood
House of Delegates -- 9th	R	Larry Border	Wood
House of Delegates -- 10th	R	Tom Azinger	Wood
House of Delegates -- 10th	R	Frederick David Gillespie	Wood
House of Delegates -- 11th	R	Bob Ashley	Roane
House of Delegates -- 12th	R	Mitch B. Carmichael	Jackson
House of Delegates -- 13th	R	James McCormick II	Mason
House of Delegates -- 14th	D	Karen Coria	Putnam
House of Delegates -- 14th	R	Troy Andes	Putnam
House of Delegates -- 14th	R	Patti Eagloski Schoen	Putnam
House of Delegates -- 15th	D	Kevin J. Craig	Cabell
House of Delegates -- 15th	D	Jim Morgan	Cabell
House of Delegates -- 15th	R	Carol Miller	Cabell
House of Delegates -- 16th	R	Kelli Sobonya	Cabell
House of Delegates -- 17th	D	Don Perdue	Wayne
House of Delegates -- 17th	D	Richard Thompson	Wayne
House of Delegates -- 18th	D	Larry W. Barker	Boone
House of Delegates -- 20th	D	K. Steven Kominar	Mingo
House of Delegates -- 21st	D	Harry Keith White	Mingo
House of Delegates -- 22nd	D	Bruce O. Williams	Wyoming
House of Delegates -- 25th	D	Marshall C. Long	Mercer
House of Delegates -- 25th	R	T. Mike Porter	Mercer
House of Delegates -- 26th	D	Gerald L. Crosier	Monroe
House of Delegates -- 27th	D	Mick Bates	Raleigh
House of Delegates -- 27th	D	Virginia Mahan	Summers
House of Delegates -- 27th	D	Al Martine	Raleigh
House of Delegates -- 27th	R	Dereck Severt	Raleigh
House of Delegates -- 27th	R	Linda Sumner	Raleigh
House of Delegates -- 28th	D	Thomas W. Campbell	Greenbrier
House of Delegates -- 28th	R	Ray Canterbury	Greenbrier
House of Delegates -- 29th	D	David Perry	Fayette
House of Delegates -- 29th	D	John Pino	Fayette
House of Delegates -- 29th	D	Margaret Anne Staggers	Fayette
House of Delegates -- 30th	D	Dave Higgins	Kanawha
House of Delegates -- 30th	D	Brenda Nichols Harper	Kanawha
House of Delegates -- 30th	D	Doug Skaff, Jr.	Kanawha
House of Delegates -- 30th	D	Jeff Wood	Kanawha
House of Delegates -- 32nd	R	Tim Armstead	Kanawha
House of Delegates -- 32nd	R	Patrick Lane	Kanawha
House of Delegates -- 34th	D	Brent Boggs	Braxton
House of Delegates -- 37th	D	Bill Hartman	Randolph
House of Delegates -- 37th	D	Bill Proudfoot	Randolph
House of Delegates -- 43rd	R	Rick Starn	Marion
House of Delegates -- 44th	D	Robert "Bob" Beach	Monongalia
House of Delegates -- 44th	R	Cindy Frich	Monongalia
House of Delegates -- 45th	D	Larry A. Williams	Preston
House of Delegates -- 46th	D	Stan Shaver	Preston
House of Delegates -- 47th	D	Harold Michael	Hardy
House of Delegates -- 48th	R	Allen V. Evans	Grant
House of Delegates -- 49th	R	Robert Schadler	Mineral
House of Delegates -- 50th	R	Ruth Rowan	Hampshire
House of Delegates -- 51st	R	Daryl E. Cowles	Morgan
House of Delegates -- 52nd	R	Craig P. Blair	Berkeley
House of Delegates -- 53rd	R	Jonathan Miller	Berkeley
House of Delegates -- 54th	R	Walter E. Duke	Berkeley
House of Delegates -- 55th	R	John Overington	Berkeley
House of Delegates -- 56th	D	Bob Tabb	Jefferson

*In the Primary Election on the Democratic ticket, WESPAC's number one priority and  the physician community's best choice, is the relection of Justice Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard. Two seats are up for election. Of the remaining Democratic candidates the only one who has publicly stated his/her support for upholding the constitutionality of our medical liability reforms is Menis Ketchum (D).

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Candidates at a Glance

      Justice Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard, a lifelong West Virginia resident, was born in Williamson in Mingo County, West Virginia. He graduated from Belfry High School in 1960. He earned his B.S. from Florida Southern College in 1967 and his J.D. from West Virginia University in 1974. He joined the United States Air Force in 1961, and was attached to a reconnaissance group during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Thereafter, he was assigned to the 306th Bomb Wing in the Strategic Air Command, and was honorably released in 1966. 

From 1968 to 1970 he was Managing Director of the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce. He was engaged in the private practice of law in Williamson from 1974 to 1981. In 1976, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Mingo County and was re-elected in 1980. In 1981 Governor John D. Rockefeller, IV, appointed him as Judge of the Thirtieth Judicial Circuit. He was twice elected judge of that circuit. In November 1996, Maynard was elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court and this year is currently serving as Chief Justice.

He has been involved for over thirty years with the Boy Scouts of America and was District Chairman of the Mingo-Pike District and District Chairman of the Chief Cornstalk District. He has served on the Board of the Buckskin Council and received the Silver Beaver Award, the highest volunteer award in scouting. Justice Maynard is a member of the American Judges Association, the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, the West Virginia Bar Association, a former Member of National District Attorneys Association, and a member of the Charleston Rotary Club and other fraternal organizations. In November 1996, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals. He served as chief justice in 2000 and 2004.

     Beth Walker is a partner in the Charleston office of Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love LLP. Since joining the firm seventeen years ago, she has concentrated her practice on labor and employment law. She has also served in firm management as a member of the firm's Executive Committee and as the firm's Human Resources chair. 

Beth advises large and small employers in a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, energy, health care, financial services, professional services and associations and retail sales. She also frequently represents higher education entities, municipalities, counties and boards of education in the public sector. 

The excellence of Beth's skills as a lawyer have been recognized by her being included in Best Lawyers in America, published by Woodward/White. She is also listed in America's Leading Lawyers for Business, published by Chambers USA.
A 1987 summa cum laude graduate of Hillsdale College, Beth earned her law degree in 1990 from The Ohio State University, where she was Articles Editor for The Ohio State Law Journal. She currently serves on the Alumni Executive Board of Hillsdale College.
Beth is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Sixth Circuits, District Courts in West Virginia and Ohio and the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. 

In 1999, Beth was selected to participate in Leadership West Virginia and now serves on that organization's Board of Directors. She is a past president of the board of Kanawha Pastoral Counseling Center and currently serves as Vice Chair of the board of directors of Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council. Beth is vice chair of the Human Resources Committee for the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. 

Beth is married to Mike Walker, Executive Vice President of Cecil I. Walker Machinery Co., a family-owned company that distributes construction equipment. They reside in South Charleston.

Beth Walker is running for the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia because West Virginians deserve a fair and impartial court system. As a lawyer, Beth understands the importance of the role of the Supreme Court as an independent branch of government.

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A Health Care Hero

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• WESPAC Makes Primary Election Endorsements
• Supreme Court Race - #1 Most Important Race this Election
• Early Voting Is Going On Now
• Independent Voter Alert
• 2008 Primary Election Endorsments
• Candidates at a Glance
• A Health Care Hero

State At-Large - 2 Seats
Phillip R. Stevens, MD, Chairman
M. Tony Kelly, MD

WVSMA Council Representative - 1 Seat
F. Tom Sporck, MD, Secretary

First Congressional District - 2 Seats
Ken Nanners, MD
David W. Avery, MD

Second Congressional District - 2 Seats
John Wade, MD
2nd seat vacant

Third Congressional District - 2 Seats
Ahmed D. Faheem, MD
Ron Stollings, MD

Alliance Representative - 1 Seat
Terry Waxman

Director/Treasurer
Amy N. Tolliver, MS