CHARLESTON — West Virginia 3rd District Congressman Evan Jenkins told MetroNews on Thursday he is “seriously considering” a run for state Supreme Court in the November election.
Jenkins, whose second term in the U.S. House ends later this year, would seek the vacancy left by the resignation of Justice Menis Ketchum, which took effect last week. Ketchum was subsequently charged with federal wire fraud Tuesday and is scheduled to plead guilty in the near future.
Jenkins, a Republican, met with Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday, and Justice tweeted about the Congressman’s interest in the Supreme Court.
“Today I met with Evan Jenkins, and he told me he is considering running for the West Virginia Supreme Court. We need people with honesty and integrity to restore trust to the Court!”
House of Delegates Minority Leader Tim Miley took a shot at the endorsement by tweeting, “An endorsement by Governor Justice is the kiss of death for anybody.”
Jenkins lost his bid to move up to the U.S. Senate when he finished behind state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in the May GOP primary.
The run for the state Supreme Court seat will be a short campaign. The filing period begins Monday with the election 13 weeks later.
