Published: September 01, 2008 01:04 pm      

Third party ads start early in attorney general, Supreme Court races

CHARLESTON — Third parties have started ad campaigns in what many consider two of the most crucial state contests come November.

The Center for Individual Freedom, West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce all have ads running that name specific candidates in the attorney general and state Supreme Court races.

By law, the ads can't advocate for the election or defeat of any of the candidates because the groups are funded largely by corporate interests.

The three candidates mentioned are: state Attorney General Darrell McGraw and state Supreme Court candidates Menis Ketchum and Beth Walker, both local lawyers.

McGraw will face Charleston lawyer Dan Greear on Nov. 7. Ketchum, Walker and Charleston lawyer Margaret Workman will battle for two open seats on the Supreme Court.

The Virginia-based Center for Individual Freedom has been running television and radio ads criticizing McGraw's spending of settlement money on his own, instead of turning it over to lawmakers for appropriation.

The issue, which has been a chronic article of debate in the statehouse for years, promises to be the cornerstone of the campaign of McGraw's Republican challenger, Greear, who has pledged to turn all settlement money over to the state Legislature for appropriation if elected.

The ads cite the $10 million settlement McGraw garnered with the makers of the painkiller OxyContin. Some of the money has been awarded to law firms that helped McGraw's office on the case. The rest has been spent on programs meant to combat drug abuse in West Virginia.

"They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks," the voiceover begins over top of some slide dobro music. McGraw's picture sits on a porch beside a picture of a Bassett Hound.

The ad continues: "Twenty-eight years of controversy and Darrell McGraw's at it again; spending $10 million from a settlement meant to help workers and the elderly. Instead, divvying it up between his trial lawyer buddies in a fund only controlled by McGraw."

At the end of the ad, the voiceover urges West Virginians to call McGraw's office and "tell him to return the people's money." The television ad lists the telephone number for McGraw's consumer protection division.

"It's an issue that our supporters and activists are extremely concerned about," said Jeffrey Mazzella, the group's president. Mazzella declined to say how much the group spent on the ads.

Deputy Attorney General Fran Hughes criticized the group as being little more than a lobbying front for big business - which often finds itself the target of McGraw's lawsuits.

"They have gone to court to fight for the right to be able to put out information that promotes a big business agenda and not disclose the source of the money," Hughes said, referencing a federal lawsuit the Center for Individual Freedom successfully waged this year against Secretary of State Betty Ireland.

Hughes said the center and the Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse "dip from the same well" of funding for the ads. She said McGraw and Ketchum are targeted because they are considered anti-business. But Hughes said McGraw's work has helped pay down teacher retirement debt and established the funding pool to privatize workers' compensation insurance.

"I think that says you're good for business," Hughes said.

As far as the ads, Hughes said McGraw's campaign feels confident most West Virginians will be able to see through the "false messages."

The Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse radio ad targets Ketchum because the group says the candidate's law firm files frivolous lawsuits and advertises on television.

"His firm is making the most high-profile challenges to the medical malpractice reforms before the Supreme Court," said Steve Cohen, the group's executive director. "Ketchum's catchy name has been in the news all year, and our ads are driving more members to WV CALA in the fight for legal reform."

The CALA ad criticizes "TV-advertising personal injury lawyers" that file "junk lawsuits" and singles out Ketchum's Huntington firm, Greene Ketchum Bailey and Tweel.

"Don't let TV-advertising personal injury lawyers like Menis Ketchum steal healthcare and jobs from hardworking West Virginians," the ad ends, and directs listeners to a Web site: www.lawsuitgreed.com.

Once there, visitors are treated to criticisms and ridicule of McGraw, Ketchum and Parkersburg lawyer Jan Dils.

Ketchum, a Democrat, said he hasn't heard the ad.

"I do know that CALA is funded with out-of-state money," Ketchum said. "West Virginians aren't advertising against me."

The third ad - put out by the state chamber on statewide radio - is not critical. It thanks Walker, a Republican, for serving on the chamber's human resources committee and for her advocacy of job creation and economic development.

"We started running it earlier this week," said Steve Roberts, chamber president. "We have many members who are very proud that Beth has offered herself for statewide office and wanted to do something that says, 'Thank you, Beth.' "

Roberts said the ad will continue running through early September and has cost the chamber about $20,000.

The chamber spent $593,869 on ads touting the record of Supreme Court Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard during the primary election season. Maynard, dogged by controversy, placed fourth in the election.