Dave Higgins waited a long time to run for West Virginia attorney general - 40 years to be exact.
"We've always had a Democrat as attorney general," said Higgins, a Charleston lawyer. "As a Democrat, I had no interest in running against an incumbent."
That changed in November 2012. Patrick Morrisey became the first Republican to hold the attorney general's office in 76 years, ousting Darrell McGraw.
On Friday, Higgins filed pre-candidacy paperwork to run for attorney general on the Democratic ticket in 2016.
"I'm qualified from training and experience," said Higgins, who served eight years as a Charleston city councilman and two years as a legislator in the House of Delegates. "This is the first opportunity I could run for office with a clear conscience, so to speak."
Higgins, 67, said he would manage the attorney general's office differently than Morrisey. Democrats have criticized Morrisey for filing lawsuits and legal briefs that weren't requested by the state agencies that he represents.
"He has a different philosophic approach to the office than I would," Higgins said. "I look at it as a job where the statute tells you what you're supposed to do as a lawyer. I look at it as being a lawyer for the state and state agencies."
Higgins works for Robinson & McElwee, a Charleston law firm that hosted a political fundraiser for Morrisey in May 2013. Higgins donated $100 to Morrisey's campaign that month, records show.
Robinson and McElwee's political action committee also contributed to Morrisey's run in 2012. Higgins gives $88 a month to the firm's political committee.
"We're kind of like a grocery store," Higgins said. "We have all kinds of soup down here."
In 2012, Morrisey attacked McGraw for his ties to trial lawyers, but that will be tough criticism to make against Higgins.
"I've had one jury trial in 40 years," Higgins said. "Basically, my practice is taxation, securities, commercial law and contracts. I also do wills, trusts and estates."
Then-Gov. Joe Manchin, now a U.S. senator, appointed Higgins to the House of Delegates in 2007. Higgins replaced former Delegate Jon Amores, D-Kanawha, who resigned. Higgins lost in the Democratic primary the following year.
In 2006, Higgins lost a state Senate primary race to Erik Wells, who went on to win the general election.
State GOP Chairman Conrad Lucas said Higgins is no match for Morrisey.
"Patrick Morrisey is one of the top attorneys general in America and most certainly the greatest in modern West Virginia history," Lucas said Friday.
Morrisey has bolstered his campaign by holding numerous out-of-state fundraisers since 2012. Higgins is expected to keep his fundraising closer to home.
"Any campaign funds Dave Higgins will be raising, 99 percent of it will be in West Virginia from West Virginians, as opposed to all this greasy out-of-state money," said Kent Carper, a Democrat who heads the Kanawha County Commission.
Higgins is married to Patti Hamilton, executive director of the West Virginia Association of Counties. Higgins served in Vietnam and worked as a coal miner before he became a lawyer. He grew up in Fayette County.
"Dave Higgins' has had a distinguished legal career," Carper said. "You won't find anybody who questions his legal ability or integrity. He's a decent and honest person."
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