West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin shouldn't be eligible for public campaign financing money, a Kanawha circuit judge ruled Friday.
Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman said the State Election Commission's decision to certify Benjamin for public campaign financing was "clearly erroneous," so the judge reversed the decision.
Beth Walker, another candidate for the one Supreme Court seat available in this year's election, filed the original complaint about Benjamin's financing with the SEC and appealed its decision to circuit court.
Kaufman found that Benjamin's campaign missed deadlines for filing the application for certification and a report of exploratory campaign contributions - issues the Walker campaign also raised in the SEC hearing, and that commissioners unanimously ruled were not valid.
"Strict adherence to deadlines related to political campaigning activity is paramount," Kaufman wrote in a 30-page order. The "SEC's decision caused public campaign monies to be improperly injected into the campaign for Supreme Court."
In a statement after Friday's ruling, Benjamin said he believes the SEC "got it right" and said his campaign "will take appropriate steps to have this decision reviewed."
Benjamin has not said if he will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. With the introduction of nonpartisan judicial elections this year, the Supreme Court election will be on May 10 - less than three months away.
Walker campaign spokesman Joe Reidy said of the ruling, "The Walker campaign believes in the rule of law and that the law should be followed - especially by candidates seeking judicial office."
SEC Chairman Gary Collias wrote in a statement Friday afternoon that, despite Kaufman's ruling, commissioners still believe they correctly interpreted the Supreme Court's public campaign financing law, but pointed out this is their first time having to do so.
"Any time new statutes are interpreted by an agency for the first time, there will be disagreement about what the law means and is intended," Collias said. "We found that technical missteps were made by all parties. We did not believe that the beneficial and remedial purpose of the program should have been defeated by minor technical missteps."
Benjamin's attorney, Jonathan Marshall, argued during a hearing last week in front of Kaufman that the election law doesn't require a Supreme Court candidate to begin an exploratory campaign as a traditional candidate and then opt to pursue public campaign financing - so the justice's campaign didn't have to turn in several reports Walker accused him of never providing.
But Kaufman said, once Benjamin became a "participating candidate" on Sept. 11, 2015, he had to file an exploratory report no later than Oct. 1.
The SEC also was wrong when it determined that a glitch in the electronic reporting system made it impossible for Benjamin's campaign to electronically file a financial report for the exploratory period after he opted to pursue public financing, Kaufman wrote.
"Justice Benjamin's failure to file the exploratory monthly reports was not attributable to an electronic 'glitch,' rather neglect to which the hardship exemption does not apply," Kaufman wrote.
Under the law, to qualify for public financing, a candidate must raise at least $35,000 from at least 500 contributors, with maximum contributions of $100. Benjamin failed to obtain the required number of qualifying contributions because at least 192 of the 512 contributions did not contain a handwritten signature, Kaufman wrote.
"The SEC's certification of Justice Benjamin was clearly erroneous and must be reversed because it directly violated Walker's constitutional rights to free speech and substantiative due process under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution," Kaufman's ruling states.
In addition to Benjamin and Walker, other candidates for the election are former justice and state attorney general Darrell McGraw, Beckley lawyer and former legislative leader Bill Wooton and Clay lawyer Wayne King.
Last month, the SEC also certified public campaign financing for Wooton, over objections from the Walker campaign, which contended that Wooton should be disqualified for allegedly filing his application for certification a day late.
This is the second election in which public financing has been used. It's meant to protect the integrity of judicial elections by setting up a barrier between potential justices and big donors. Justice Allen Loughry used public money in winning his court seat in 2012, during a trial run of the financing system.
Staff writer Phil Kabler contributed to this report.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.