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Charleston, WV — The West Virginia Democratic Party Chair on Jan 10th, issued the following statement regarding the House of Delegates vote on Wednesday to vacate the seat of Delegate-elect Joseph de Soto of Berkeley County. “First and foremost, we join our Republican colleagues in vehemently condemning any acts of violence or terroristic threats directed at any elected officials or anyone else for that matter. No one should ever feel unsafe doing the people’s work, and it is critical that law enforcement and the justice system handle this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Threats of violence directed at, or made by, members of this body have no place in our democracy, period.”
But in adopting this resolution to vacate de Soto's seat instead of voting to expel him for his actions, Republicans are trying to do an end around on the bad law they previously adopted to mandate that if a seat in the legislature becomes vacant, it must be filled by a member of the party the legislator is registered to at the time of the vacancy, not the party they were elected under. This change was made to benefit Republicans after Senator Daniel Hall switched parties.
During the last legislative session, Democrats tried to reverse this rule and ensure that any vacancy would be filled by a member of the party the delegate was originally elected under. Republicans rejected that effort. As a result, the law stands as it is today. Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio County, argued “We take an oath to uphold the Constitution. It doesn't state that we can selectively follow it for political purposes. The supermajority rushed a resolution that is unconstitutional on its face and will fail any challenges in the court of law.”
The West Virginia Democrat Party will be filing legal action to make sure the law and the constitution are followed and a Democrat is appointed to fill de Soto's seat. West Virginia Democratic party chair Mike Pushkin said, “in 2016 the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a vacated seat should be held by the party the member belonged to at the time the seat was vacated, not the party to which they belonged when they were elected.”