Stuart seeks GOP nod for Attorney General

May 4—A former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia is running for the GOP nomination for state attorney general.

State Sen. Mike Stuart, who also worked in former Pres. Donald Trump's administration, made the announcement Tuesday in Charleston.

"With tremendous humility and a deep sense of purpose, I announce my candidacy for Attorney General of the Great State of West Virginia," Stuart in the announcement. "I am the right person at the right time with the right experience and background to be the next Attorney General. I have a big record of taking on powerful forces and winning at the highest levels. I am a proven conservative with a proven record and built to be a strong Attorney General."

Stuart said his priorities are the "opiate and drug scourge, protecting law enforcement and our veterans, federal and regulatory overreach, corruption, Medicaid and consumer fraud, elder abuse, domestic violence, and protecting our children."

"I carry in my pocket each day a wallet filled with the beautiful faces of victims of the opiate crisis," he said. "It's those faces that re-inspire me each day. It's those pictures that compelled me to run for Attorney General. Those pictures haunt me in the dark of night and they remind me of the profound importance of our work."

Stuart served as West Virginia Co-Chair to President Trump's successful campaign in 2016. Trump nominated him as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia and he was confirmed to the post by the U.S. Senate with the support of Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito.

Prior to his work with the 2016 Trump campaign, Stuart chaired the state Republican Party and spearheaded a statewide bipartisan effort to bring a national Trump/Clinton Presidential debate to West Virginia.

As U.S. Attorney, the chief federal law enforcement officer in the District, Stuart rebuilt the District operations in Bluefield, Beckley, Huntington and Charleston, led the historic prosecution of two Justices of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, prosecuted the largest Medicaid fraud case in West Virginia history, took enough fentanyl off the streets to kill more than 40 million people, spearheaded the largest drug raid in the history of West Virginia ("Operation Saigon Sunset" in Huntington) that targeted nearly 100 defendants with more than 250 law enforcement officers at the federal, state and local levels, prosecuted one of the largest elder fraud prosecutions in the country in 2019, and led the largest methamphetamine bust in the history of the state in Parkersburg.

Stuart, a Kanawha County resident, was elected to the State Senate in a nearly 17 percent landslide by defeating long-time four-term, 16-year incumbent Democrat Ron Stollings in a District that remains heavily Democrat.

In Stuart's first session in the State Senate, he successfully led passage of four major bills including updating the State's Controlled Substances Schedules, overhauling West Virginia's out-of-control over-the-counter drug laws, doubling vehicle inspection stickers from one year to two, and protecting law enforcement by mandating all felony warrants be indexed in the National Crime Information Center database.

A graduate of Morgantown High School and West Virginia University, Stuart obtained his law degree from Boston University.

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com