West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has hired a veteran political strategist from Walla Walla, Washington, and put him on the state payroll.
Lance James Henderson, 51, who last worked for Maine Gov. Paul LePage's re-election campaign in 2014, was hired last month as Morrisey's deputy chief of staff, a newly created position at the Attorney General's Office.
Morrisey eliminated an investigator's job in his Consumer Protection Division to make way for Henderson's job, personnel records show. Half of Henderson's $99,500 salary will be paid with monies from the attorney general's Consumer Protection Recovery Fund, which finances consumer protection activities.
Henderson has never practiced law. He's been a campaign consultant to politicians for the past 25 years, specializing in field operations and building voter databases. Politicians and their campaign operatives use the voter files to track vote habits and urge likely voters to support specific candidates and go to the polls.
On his resume posted on his LinkedIn.com page, Henderson lists these areas of expertise: "strategy, message and branding, management and organization, media relations, direct and digital marketing, fundraising, research and targeting."
On Friday, Henderson took part in a West Virginia Republican Party conference call to discuss a possible protest of President Barack Obama's planned visit to Charleston Wednesday, according to two GOP officials who were on the call.
Morrisey never advertised the deputy chief of staff position on the attorney general's website or on conservativejobs.com - two places where Morrisey's office typically posts job openings. The office doesn't have a chief of staff.
"Hiring a political operative at a huge salary on the public's nickel is an inexcusable breach of trust and ethics," said Chris Regan, vice chairman of the state Democratic Party. "Patrick Morrisey has hit a new low in diverting $100,000 in taxpayer money directly to his political campaign."
Dave Higgins, a Charleston lawyer running for attorney general as a Democrat, also criticized Morrisey's decision to hire an out-of-state political operative and pay him with state funds.
"Not only do I consider that inappropriate, if I were attorney general, it would never even cross my mind to do something like that," Higgins said.
Another Democrat in the race, Mark Hunt, questioned Henderson's qualifications for the job.
"He's deputy chief of staff of the state's largest law firm, the Attorney General's Office, and he's not even an attorney," said Hunt, a Charleston lawyer and former vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "He's a political strategist."
Anthony Martin, chief operating officer and spokesman for Morrisey, said Henderson helps manage scheduling and communications at the Attorney General's Office. Henderson does not supervise lawyers and reports directly to Martin, Martin said.
"The deputy chief of staff helps facilitate the smooth functioning of the office," Martin said in an email.
Asked about Morrisey's decision to eliminate the investigator job in the consumer division, Martin said, "We have been, and continue to, actively recruit additional investigators for our office."
Martin declined to answer additional questions that the Gazette-Mail submitted in writing at Martin's request.
Henderson answered a phone call from the newspaper Friday afternoon, but his cellphone cut off before a reporter could ask questions and he did not answer subsequent calls. Henderson also did not respond to emails seeking comment.
For 20 years, Henderson has operated a political consulting firm called Henderson Strategic Communications. The company "specializes in using the power and influence of savvy marketing communications to revamp an image, enhance the impact of a brand, build awareness, turnaround a perception and boost competitive positioning," according to an online ad.
Last year, the Maine Republican Party hired Henderson to run field operations for LePage's re-election bid. Henderson pocketed $54,413 for his campaign work from June 2014 through November 2014, according to the state's campaign finance database. Henderson was credited with improving LePage's "ground game," and the incumbent Republican governor won the race.
From 1992 to 1995, Henderson was executive director of the Washington state Republican Party. During those years, six new GOP members were elected to Congress, a Republican U.S. senator was re-elected, and GOP lawmakers took control of the state's lower house for the first time in 14 years.
After GOP leaders ousted Henderson in 1995, some party activists, both moderates and conservatives, told the Seattle Times that Henderson had a reputation for being brusque and arrogant with members of the state's Republican executive committee.
In 1996, Henderson managed then-U.S. Sen. Bob Dole's presidential primary campaign in Washington state. Dole won the GOP primary there, but lost the national presidential election to Bill Clinton.
That same year, Henderson helped develop a 50-state voter database for the Republican National Committee, which coordinates fundraising and election strategy for the party.
On his LinkedIn page, Henderson says he has worked with "presidents, U.S. senators and members of Congress, governors, attorneys general, state legislators and local officials."
Henderson also has worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Republican Governors Association, National Republican Congressional Committee and state GOP legislative caucuses, according to a press release issued by the Maine GOP last year.
In July 2013, Henderson spent five days in a King County, Washington, jail after being arrested on driving under the influence and assault charges. As part of a plea deal, the DUI charge was reduced to reckless driving charge and the assault charge was dismissed, according to court records. Henderson also was charged with DUI and assault in 2006 in Washington state. He twice filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and 2005, according to federal court records.
Henderson, who graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla with a degree in politics, started working in Morrisey's office on Sept. 8.
"Mr. Henderson has no discernible qualifications for this newly created job invented so that Morrisey can force taxpayers to pay his political hired guns," Regan said. "The fact that this money comes out of consumer protection funds adds insult to injury for West Virginia's people, who work hard to pay for government services, not Morrisey's political machinery."
Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.