A veteran political operative that West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey hired and put on the state payroll last month abruptly quit on Wednesday.
Morrisey's deputy chief of staff, Lance James Henderson, announced his resignation two days after the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported on Henderson's hiring.
Democrats seeking Morrisey's office and party leaders assailed Morrisey's decision to hire Henderson and pay him $99,500 after eliminating a consumer fraud investigator position. Henderson, who has never practiced law, started working in Morrisey's office Sept. 8.
"I can no longer allow my tenure in office to serve as a distraction to the honest service and hard work performed by the Attorney General's Office," Henderson said in a prepared statement. "It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation from service to West Virginia."
In 2014, Henderson worked for Maine Gov. Paul LePage's re-election campaign. For the past 25 years, he's been a consultant to politicians on field operations and building voter databases.
On his online resume, Henderson lists his area of expertise as "strategy, message and branding, management and organization, media relations, direct and digital marketing, fundraising, research and targeting."
Morrisey's office has said Henderson was hired to help manage scheduling and communications.
Last week, Henderson took part in a West Virginia Republican Party conference call to discuss a protest of President Barack Obama's visit to Charleston to talk about the nation's heroin and prescription drug problem. Morrisey attended an Obama protest rally at the state Capitol Wednesday morning.
While Obama was still speaking at an East End community center later Wednesday, Morrisey issued a news release about his deputy chief, blaming Henderson's abrupt departure on partisan actions.
"Lance, like all West Virginians, wants the best for our state and for our country," Morrisey said. "Unfortunately, there are outlets of partisan influence in this state that will stop at nothing to advance their agenda through any means necessary. This includes denigrating a citizen's willingness to honorably serve our state."
Half of Henderson's $99,500 salary was paid with monies from the attorney general's Consumer Protection Recovery Fund, which finances consumer protection activities. Morrisey created the deputy chief of staff position for Henderson. Morrisey's office doesn't have a chief of staff position.
"As a law enforcement official, Morrisey knew the hiring of Henderson to be unethical, but he did it anyway," said Chris Regan, vice chairman of the state Democratic Party. "Patrick Morrisey thought he could get away with anything, even putting his campaign staff on the public payroll, but thanks to public outcry, he couldn't quite pull it off."
Dave Higgins, a Charleston lawyer running for attorney general as a Democrat, said he hopes Morrisey learned a lesson.
"I am pleased with this outcome." Higgins said. "West Virginia does not need a future repeat of this."
Last year, the Maine Republican Party hired Henderson to run field operations for LePage's re-election bid. Henderson collected $54,413 for his campaign work from June 2014 through last November.
From 1992 to 1995, Henderson was executive director of the Washington state GOP.
In his statement Wednesday, Henderson left a parting shot about his take on West Virginia politics.
"The vitriolic partisanship I have witnessed over the last several weeks is some of the worst nationwide," he said. "It is disappointing to me that such partisanship can get in the way of diligent and honorable public service.
"West Virginia will not find its renaissance until people of all political backgrounds combine their ideas and efforts for the advancement of the state."
Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.