The adjustment period starts now for the newest members of the West Virginia Board of Public Works.
New Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry, Commissioner of Agriculture Walt Helmick and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey were sworn in during a Monday ceremony on the steps of the State Capitol.
“I was just honored to be on stage today because I know there’s so much good that we can do for the State of West Virginia,” Attorney General Morrisey told MetroNews after taking his Oath of Office.
Morrisey, who is from Harpers Ferry, is the first Republican to serve as AG in West Virginia since 1933. He beat former AG Darrell McGraw, who had held the position since 1992, in the November General Election. In doing so, Morrisey became the only challenger candidate to defeat an incumbent member of the Board of Public Works since the late 1800s.
He started to get settled into the Attorney General’s Office on Monday.
“We opened up the doors and we immediately got to work. We brought new people into the office and we started taking some actions to make sure that we’re going to run this office with integrity and in a manner that makes West Virginians proud,” AG Morrisey said.
New Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry, a Tucker County native, told MetroNews on Monday he was also looking forward to getting to work.
“This is a great opportunity. We worked very hard and I’m anxious to just do my job, for the next 12 years, for the people of West Virginia,” Justice Loughry said.
His wife, Kelly, and their son, Justus, held the Bible on the steps of the State Capitol as Loughry, a Republican, took the Oath of Office.
“It was exciting to take the Oath. I was very honored to have my family with me. I want average West Virginians to know that they can participate in this process,” he said.
Justice Loughry has never held an elected office before now.
The new Commissioner of Agriculture, though, has won many elections in the past. Commissioner Walt Helmick from Pocahontas County says he has actually first called “Commissioner” decades ago.
“I started as a board of education member in 1976 in an elected field, public service field, if you will, and then moved from that office to the (Pocahontas) County Commission and I was President of the (Pocahontas) County Commission for nine years,” Helmick told MetroNews with a laugh.
For the past 24 years, he has been a member of the state Senate. He did not resign from the Senate until shortly before taking the official Oath of Office to become Commissioner of Agriculture on Monday, replacing the retiring Gus Douglass.
“I chaired about every committee in the Senate, from Finance right on down the line,” Commissioner Helmick said. “I held on as long as I could. I loved it.”
Helmick, Justice Loughry, and Attorney General Morrisey join returning Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, Auditor Glen Gainer, Treasurer John Perdue and Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis on the Board of Public Works.
They all took their Oaths of Office on Monday at the State Capitol along with Governor Earl Ray Tomblin who is beginning his first, full four year term.