CHARLESTON – For more than 80 years, liberals controlled the West Virginia Legislature. Wealthy personal injury lawyers called the shots for most of the second half of this one-party reign, which drove West Virginia to last in nearly every economic category compared to other American states.
During this era, these trial lawyers built lucrative empires off of a legal system rigged in their favor, pushing policies that scared off small businesses and increased costs for all West Virginians.
Thomas
A decade ago, conservatives took control of the West Virginia statehouse and worked to pass one of the most effective agendas in the nation. West Virginia's economy was on the rise. One of the main reasons was because of the dozens of legal reform bills that were passed and signed into law, in addition to major changes at the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the creation of an Intermediate Appellate Court. West Virginia was no longer on the notorious Judicial Hellholes List.
Job creators took notice, with national rankings showing marked improvements in West Virginia's legal climate. The reforms were working, and small businesses across the state finally had a chance to build their livelihood.
But liberal special interests unshackled themselves from their previous political party and decided to start supporting members of the party in power. Personal injury lawyers started giving tens of thousands of dollars to legislative candidates who used to call themselves conservatives. And boy, oh boy, did they ever get their money's worth in the State Senate!
In the 2025 session, liberal state Senators sponsored 26 bills that could expand liability or contained a cause of action. Six bills created an entirely new cause of action. The liberal State Senator who sponsored the largest number of these personal injury-friendly bills — Patricia Rucker, who was number three on last election's Dirty Dozen List, has taken nearly $25,000 from liberal personal injury lawyers in Charleston and Morgantown.
Fortunately, the more conservative House of Delegates rejected many of these get-rich-quick schemes camouflaged as social issue bills. This has led to much political speculation that the new liberal leadership team will rely heavily upon the personal injury lawyer industry to fund their campaigns in the upcoming election.
So, after a decade of conservative legislative wins and economic development announcements, a few hundred thousand dollars has bought the support of many faux-conservative legislators whose lust for power is far greater than their desire to create jobs for West Virginia families. West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse will continue to monitor this new misguided relationship in our Legislature. Let's hope the 2026 election brings new, real conservative leadership back to Charleston.
West Virginia can't afford to go back to the days when every courtroom was a jackpot justice system, and every lawsuit was a payday for politically connected trial lawyers.
Thomas is executive director of West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse.
