2004 West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals election

The 2004 West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals election took place on November 2, 2004, to elect a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia for the next 12 years.

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2004 West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals election

← 2000 November 2, 2004 (2004-11-02) 2008 →

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Nominee Brent Benjamin Warren McGraw Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 382,036 334,301 Percentage 53.33% 46.67%

Results by county Benjamin:      50–60%      60–70%      80–90% McGraw:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Justice before election Warren McGraw Democratic Elected Justice Brent Benjamin Republican

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Originally elected in 1998, incumbent Democratic Justice Warren McGraw had previously sought Justice George M. Scott's open seat which was up for election in 2000, and was a twelve year term which would expire in 2012. This was challenged in the state Supreme Court, and in a 4-1 decision, the Court held that McGraw was ineligible to run for a 12-year term in the year 2000 when he was already a member of the Court until the year 2004, and referred to his action as "audacious".^[1][2][3][4]

McGraw sought re-election to his seat for a second term, but was defeated in the general election by Republican nominee and Charleston attorney Brent Benjamin. This election result was widely attributed to Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's involvement in the election, spending $3.5 million to defeat McGraw.

Benjamin became the first Republican elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court in more than 80 years.