News + Press
News + Press
News + Press
West Virginia Democratic Party Calls Out Apparent Constitutional Violation by Auditor Mark Hunt and Senator Jay Taylor
For Immediate Release May 28, 2026
Charleston, WV — The West Virginia Democratic Party is calling on Governor Morrisey, Attorney General McCuskey, Auditor Mark Hunt, and Senate President Randy Smith to explain why Senator Jay Taylor is allowed to continue serving in the Senate while holding a job in the executive branch, in what appears to be a direct violation of the West Virginia State Constitution.
According to a recent comprehensive investigative report by Kyle Vass in Dragline, Senator Taylor is apparently employed by the State Auditor’s Office while simultaneously serving in the West Virginia Senate and sponsoring legislation to expand the authority and power of that same office.
Article VI, Section 13 of the West Virginia Constitution expressly prohibits a sitting legislator from holding any “lucrative office” with the state during the term for which they were elected. Furthermore, according to Attorney General McCuskey, Article VI, Section 15 of the West Virginia Constitution “flatly declares that no member of the Legislature may ‘be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract with the state, or any county thereof, authorized by any law passed during the term for which he shall have been elected.”
The report further indicates that the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office warned West Virginia State Auditor Mark Hunt against arrangements that would make a legislator effectively a full-time state employee. Yet emails cited in the reporting regarding Senator Taylor’s salary and employment arrangement strongly suggest precisely that — that Senator Taylor is functioning as a de facto full-time public employee while simultaneously serving in the Legislature. Auditor Hunt needs to explain why he ignored the Attorney General’s clear and direct warnings regarding what looks to be a political hiring expressly prohibited by the West Virginia State Constitution.
West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said the facts outlined in the reporting raise serious constitutional and ethical concerns that demand immediate public scrutiny. “The West Virginia Constitution is crystal clear. Legislators are prohibited from holding lucrative public office,” said Pushkin. “This provision exists to protect the integrity of our government and prevent exactly this kind of conflict — where a sitting senator appears to be drawing a taxpayer-funded salary from a constitutional office while sponsoring legislation to expand that office’s power.
Pushin added, “This issue goes far beyond one legislator or one office. If state lawmakers can simultaneously hold lucrative public employment within the executive branch, what is to prevent a Governor or constitutional officer from simply doling out taxpayer-funded jobs to legislators with the expectation that those legislators support a particular political agenda? That creates the potential for a dangerous ‘jobs for votes’ scheme that could corrupt the independence of the legislative branch and undermine the constitutional separation of powers designed to protect the people of West Virginia from exactly this type of political patronage and insider dealing.”
Pushkin said the reported warnings from the Attorney General’s Office make the situation even more alarming.
“If the Attorney General’s Office warned against creating a situation where a legislator was effectively serving as a full-time state employee, and internal emails now suggest exactly that occurred, then West Virginians deserve to know whether the Constitution was ignored and whether public funds were used to create an unlawful employment arrangement for a sitting lawmaker.”
Finally, Pushking added, “The West Virginia State Constitution clearly states in Article VI, Section 24, that ‘Each house shall determine the rules of its proceedings and be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members.’ Senate President Randy Smith needs to make clear why he determined that Senator Taylor is qualified to remain in the State Senate while simultaneously being employed in another branch of state government in light of the prohibition outlined in Article VI, Section 13 of the state constitution.”