An editorial from The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register
WHEELING, W.Va. — Many Republican voters have been energized this year because they either favor Donald Trump for president – or had hoped to block his bid for the White House. Trump’s victory in seeking the GOP nomination does not mean the Tuesday primary election in West Virginia is meaningless, however.
To the contrary: Going to the polls Tuesday is critically important for many reasons. One of them is keeping Darrell McGraw from winning a state Supreme Court seat.
Tuesday’s election is a nonpartisan one for judicial candidates, meaning those who win that day will take office. Voters’ decision is final.
Five candidates, including McGraw, are running for the Supreme Court. Two, Brent Benjamin and Beth Walker, should be popular among GOP voters because they believe in administering justice, not pursuing liberal activism.
McGraw, on the other hand, is an unabashed activist with a sordid record of using state offices for political gain. He must be defeated. On that, both supporters and opponents of Trump should agree.
But McGraw has big advantages. As we have explained previously, the arrangement of the Republican ballot favors him. He benefits from name recognition, though for all the wrong reasons.
Now he can hope Republicans, more likely than Democrats to vote against him, will stay home on Tuesday because the presidential nomination no longer is in question.
In many ways, the state Supreme Court has more influence on our daily lives than the president, however. For West Virginians, keeping McGraw off the court is vitally important.
So if you are a Republican, don’t use the Trump victory as an excuse to refrain from voting Tuesday. Go to the polls to stop McGraw.
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