Political observers believe that state Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard's chances for re-election ended before he even filed his candidacy papers.
Maynard was soundly defeated in Tuesday's primary election. He placed a distant third, coming up 38,122 votes short of the second place finisher, a relatively unknown Huntington lawyer named Menis Ketchum.
Looking back, Maynard's loss seems for some to have been a foregone conclusion.
"I think that by the time Chief Justice Maynard realized he was in trouble, it was too late for him to do anything about it," said Robert Behrman, chairman of Marshall University's political science program.
Maynard's downfall began a couple weeks before he filed for re-election on Jan. 26 when a small coal company asked him to step aside as the court prepared to decide whether to reconsider a multimillion-dollar appeal already won by Massey Energy.
The Harman Mining Company was trying to protect a $76 million judgment in its favor from a lawsuit it had filed against Massey. In calling for Maynard to step aside, Harman argued the chief justice couldn't be fair because of his friendship with Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship.
Harman demanded details of that friendship, given that Maynard had already voted once in Massey's favor in the case.
Maynard did not act on Harman's request.
A week later, Harman bolstered the motion by adding to it a number of photos showing Maynard and Blankenship together on the French Riviera. Lawyers for the company said they received the photos anonymously.
That was also the first day of the filing period for the primary election, Jan. 14.
Almost immediately, the photos set off a national firestorm of controversy, appearing in newspapers across the country.
Four days after the pictures were filed, Maynard reluctantly stepped down in the case.
"I will recuse myself despite the fact I have no doubt in my own mind and firmly believe I have been and would be fair and impartial in this case," Maynard wrote. "I know that for a certainty."
And while that may have been true, in politics, timing is everything.
"For most voters, it was enough to know that Chief Justice Maynard was 'palsy-walsy' with Don Blankenship and had decided cases involving Mr. Blankenship's company," Behrman said. "The fact that he later recused himself from a Massey case did not matter. If he had recused himself from cases involving Massey prior to the release of the pictures, he might have saved his seat."
Maynard tried again and again to water down the public impact the photos had by swearing he and Blankenship were vacationing separately and only met up for a couple of dinners. He said his friendship with Blankenship went back decades before Maynard was a justice and before Blankenship was one of the most successful coal executives in the country.
But as far as the majority of voters were concerned, Maynard's integrity as a judge was diminished.
Political observers believe that state Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard's chances for re-election ended before he even filed his candidacy papers.
Maynard was soundly defeated in Tuesday's primary election. He placed a distant third, coming up 38,122 votes short of the second place finisher, a relatively unknown Huntington lawyer named Menis Ketchum.
Looking back, Maynard's loss seems for some to have been a foregone conclusion.
"I think that by the time Chief Justice Maynard realized he was in trouble, it was too late for him to do anything about it," said Robert Behrman, chairman of Marshall University's political science program.
Maynard's downfall began a couple weeks before he filed for re-election on Jan. 26 when a small coal company asked him to step aside as the court prepared to decide whether to reconsider a multimillion-dollar appeal already won by Massey Energy.
The Harman Mining Company was trying to protect a $76 million judgment in its favor from a lawsuit it had filed against Massey. In calling for Maynard to step aside, Harman argued the chief justice couldn't be fair because of his friendship with Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship.
Harman demanded details of that friendship, given that Maynard had already voted once in Massey's favor in the case.
Maynard did not act on Harman's request.
A week later, Harman bolstered the motion by adding to it a number of photos showing Maynard and Blankenship together on the French Riviera. Lawyers for the company said they received the photos anonymously.
That was also the first day of the filing period for the primary election, Jan. 14.
Almost immediately, the photos set off a national firestorm of controversy, appearing in newspapers across the country.
Four days after the pictures were filed, Maynard reluctantly stepped down in the case.
"I will recuse myself despite the fact I have no doubt in my own mind and firmly believe I have been and would be fair and impartial in this case," Maynard wrote. "I know that for a certainty."
And while that may have been true, in politics, timing is everything.
"For most voters, it was enough to know that Chief Justice Maynard was 'palsy-walsy' with Don Blankenship and had decided cases involving Mr. Blankenship's company," Behrman said. "The fact that he later recused himself from a Massey case did not matter. If he had recused himself from cases involving Massey prior to the release of the pictures, he might have saved his seat."
Maynard tried again and again to water down the public impact the photos had by swearing he and Blankenship were vacationing separately and only met up for a couple of dinners. He said his friendship with Blankenship went back decades before Maynard was a justice and before Blankenship was one of the most successful coal executives in the country.
But as far as the majority of voters were concerned, Maynard's integrity as a judge was diminished.
"Let's face it, the integrity issue's a really critical one," said Richard Brisbin, a West Virginia University political scientist who focuses on judicial politics.
Brisbin said research by the American Bar Association shows that justness and fairness are of utmost importance to the public when it comes to whom they want as their judges.
"The ties between Maynard, Blankenship and Massey really raised some red flags about Maynard's judiciousness and I think that's what really hurt him with the public," Brisbin said.
Two of Maynard's opponents, Ketchum and WVU law professor Bob Bastress, immediately seized on the appearance of the photos and called for investigations. Towards the end of the primary race, each of those candidates ran television ads specifically attacking Maynard about the photos.
Maynard tried to counter with an ad of his own attacking Ketchum's record as a trial lawyer and publicly accused Bastress of using the WVU law school as his campaign headquarters.
But it was all too little, too late.
"I think he just boxed himself into this situation," Brisbin said. "I just think in this situation, he really had relatively few options for confronting the charges against him."
Unlike 2004's Supreme Court race between Justice Brent Benjamin and former Justice Warren McGraw, this year's race did not involve Blankenship's finances.
Blankenship spent more than $3 million on ads that viciously targeted McGraw and supported Benjamin's election. The ads were critical of McGraw's part in a decision that some alleged would have allowed a convicted sex offender to work as a janitor at a Marshall County high school.
This year, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce spent $593,870 - a far cry from $3 million - on ads that touted Maynard as a candidate of integrity. The chamber's television ad detailed Maynard's military service, his stint as a Mingo County prosecutor and circuit judge and his 12 years on the Supreme Court.
On the other side, the political action committee of the West Virginia Building and Construction Trades Council spent more than $160,000 on television ads targeting Maynard.
Steve Roberts, the chamber's president, said the outcome of the election wasn't a big surprise to anyone. Heading into the general election, it's not yet clear if the chamber will back any of the remaining candidates, he said.
"We certainly don't know which way we're going to go," Roberts said.
Blankenship's involvement in the general election is still up in the air. He stayed out of the primary race.
"Haven't thought about it," Blankenship said when asked whether he'd step in and back any of the three remaining candidates - Ketchum, Democrat Margaret Workman and Republican Beth Walker.
One thing is clear heading into November. The candidates are probably going to have to pick a different issue than integrity to stump on.
"The integrity issue, that's Maynard," Brisbin said. "And he's gone away."
