November 3, 2004

Benjamin looks to unseat McGraw after "vicious,'' pricey court race

By LAWRENCE MESSINA
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- After one of the nastiest and most expensive judicial races in the nation, Brent Benjamin hoped Tuesday to become the first non-incumbent Republican to win a state Supreme Court seat since the 1920s.

With 24 percent of precincts reporting, Benjamin had 82,781 votes and incumbent Democratic Justice Warren McGraw had 78,837 votes.

The 47-year-old Charleston lawyer waged an expensive slugfest against McGraw, aided by such business interests as Don Blankenship, the chairman, chief executive officer and president of Massey Energy Co.

Besides giving $1.7 million to an independent group that attacked McGraw with television ads and praised Benjamin on billboards, Blankenship spent an as-yet-unreported amount on last-minute anti-McGraw infomercials and automated phone calls.

The race for a 12-year seat became a showdown over whether McGraw and West Virginia's highest court have contributed to the state's high health care costs, insurance rates and workers' compensation problems.

With Blankenship and the state Chamber of Commerce among his allies, Benjamin blamed McGraw for the state's business climate while pledging to be "independent, nonpolitical (and) uncontrolled by any special interest.''

McGraw's supporters, largely trial lawyers and labor unions, increased the negative tempo with ads questioning Benjamin's experience and linking him with "out-of-state'' business interests.

The candidates and their surrogates also exchanged attack ads stemming from a March ruling by the court in a criminal appeal that allowed a convicted child molester to remain on probation. McGraw did not write the opinion, but helped form the 3-2 majority that ruled in favor of Tony Dean Arbaugh Jr.

The West Virginia State Bar issued a resolution last month faulting both candidates for the race's tenor and urged them to abide by the ethical rules governing judicial races.

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The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's School of Law noted the "vicious'' ads in the campaign and said it helped break the record set in 2000 of money spent in judicial races.

McGraw, a former state Senate president and Wyoming County prosecutor, was elected in 1998 to fill an unexpired term.

Benjamin has been a lawyer for 20 years and has practiced with the firm of Robinson & McElwee.