Stuart, McCuskey become first candidates on W.Va. ballot for attorney general
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CHARLESTON -- There are just four days left in West Virginia's candidate filing period for the May primary ballot, but the attorney general slot now has the only two announced candidates for the state's top attorney.
State Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, filed for attorney general Tuesday afternoon in person at the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office at the State Capitol Building with his wife Katrina and several supporters
"I think this is an important day," Stuart said to his supporters following his filing. "The attorney general, like no other office, is probably the most important office in West Virginia today. With the federal overreach in Washington and the cramming their values down our throats, you have to have a strong attorney general who is willing to stand up and not afraid of a big fight."
Stuart, an attorney with Dinsmore and Shohl, was elected in 2022 to the newly redistricted seventh senatorial district, representing Lincoln, Boone, Logan counties and southern Kanawha County. Dinsmore and Shohl hired Stuart in 2021 to join its corporate investigations practice.
Previously, Stuart served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia from 2018 to 2021. He was appointed by former president Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Stuart chaired Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in West Virginia.
"There is one candidate in this race who is a former big-time prosecutor," Stuart said. "There is one candidate in this race who was appointed by President Trump into that office. There is one former U.S. Attorney in this race."
Last week, Stuart joined former Trump administration acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and 10 former U.S. attorneys in an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Trump in a case where the Colorado Supreme Court determined that Trump could be removed from the state's ballot. In an 4-3 decision last month, the Colorado high court determined Trump was ineligible, citing the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Stuart was also once the chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party and once led the now-defunct West Virginia Conservative Foundation. He also chaired a committee in 2014 that attempted to bring a presidential debate to the state.
On Monday, State Auditor J.B. McCuskey filed for the GOP primary for attorney general in his hometown of Clarksburg at the Secretary of State's Business Hub. McCuskey was joined by his wife Wendy and his daughters Matti and Cam.
"It's a very heavy and humbling thing to sign on that line and to pledge to the people of West Virginia that I am running to be a champion for their interests and not my own; to promise that if elected, I will work tirelessly to defend the freedoms we enjoy and the values that make us who we are," McCuskey said in a statement Monday.
"I chose Clarksburg instead of Charleston to file because my constituents aren't only in Kanawha County - they are statewide," McCuskey continued. "In the coming weeks, you can expect to see us out and about on the trail. From Ceredo to Charles Town, Welch to Weirton, I'll be meeting with West Virginians to convey my vision for the future and my plan for the AG's office."
McCuskey, the son of retired state Supreme Court Justice John F. McCuskey, is a former two-term member of the House of Delegates representing the 35th District in Kanawha County. He first ran for State Auditor in 2016 and was reelected in 2020.
While in the House, McCuskey worked as an attorney for the Steptoe and Johnson law firm in Charleston. Prior to obtaining his law degree, McCuskey worked for the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army in the general counsel's offices within the Pentagon. He also worked for the American Center for Law and Justice, a law firm focused on defending the rights of Christians.
Current three-term Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced in April he would run for the Republican nomination for governor, opening up his seat in 2024.