Justice Benjamin Praises His Small-Dollar Contributors, But No Mention of Politically Connected, Spe
In seeking a taxpayer-funded run for reelection, Justice Brent Benjamin applauded Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and the Public Campaign Finance system in contrast to the “politically connected insider special interests” in campaigns.
Incredibly, candidate Benjamin fails to mention the numerous millionaire, “politically connected insider special interests” pouring money into his own campaign!
Public campaign finance documents posted online by the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office show that in the final hours before the filing deadline Benjamin collected nearly $19,000 from more than 200 personal injury lawyers. These contributors include lawsuit-lawyer insiders Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler, House Minority Leader Tim Miley, and former House Judiciary Chairman Tim Manchin.
Research by the watchdog group West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse has shown how Justice Benjamin has become a vote for personal injury lawyers’ views and regularly adds a “me too” to court rulings by the more activist justices on the Supreme Court, like Justice Robin Davis. Notably, Benjamin was recently keynote speaker at the personal injury lawyers’ annual meeting in Charleston.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that the millionaire personal injury lawyers saved the day for their favorite liberal justice as his campaign reports showed he was lagging in meeting qualifications for taxpayer dollars. In the final hours, the personal injury lawyers helped load up the campaign with thousands of dollars and the hundreds of signatures he still needed.
Does the old expression, “Do as I say, not as I do!” come to mind?
West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse will continue to educate voters about the May 10th non-partisan election for Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals and other 2016 elections.
