From the Charleston Gazette-Mail’s Daily Mail editorial page:
Credit Gov. Jim Justice for making two good picks on Tuesday when he selected outgoing State Sen. Ed Gaunch, R-Kanawha, as secretary of Commerce and outgoing Delegate Jill Upson, R-Jefferson, as secretary of the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs.
The Commerce secretary position had been vacant since the forced resignation of Woody Thrasher in early June. Thrasher took the fall for ongoing problems with the inept RISE West Virginia flood recovery program, a program that never belonged under the Commerce umbrella. …
Commerce secretary is a great position for Gaunch, a retired insurance executive and classic gentleman who lost a close re-election bid to Democrat Richard Lindsay for the 8th District Senate seat he was first elected to in 2014. …
Upson will replace William “Bill” White whose employment was terminated in October. Upson became the first African-American woman to be elected as a Republican to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2014 and served two terms before being defeated this past November by Democrat Sammi Brown, also African-American. …
Read the entire editorial at https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/daily_mail_opinion/daily_mail_editorials/daily-mail-editorial-governor-makes-two-great-picks-for-state/article_d9d3a47c-da96-5704-8415-637305db9b93.html?fbclid=IwAR3IF1ZNDv_w9eiHdqpkg10r9So5nBrVAfez_lZWuwg0scGmzkOAmxwTGgs