Evan H. Jenkins
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Evan Hollin Jenkins (born September 12, 1960) is an American politician and judge. He served as a justice of the
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 ...
, joining the Court in 2018 and serving as chief justice in 2021. He resigned from the court on February 4, 2022. He served as a
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from West Virginia from 2015 to 2018. He is a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, having switched his party affiliation from Democratic in 2013. Jenkins was a member of the
West Virginia Senate The West Virginia Senate is the upper house of the West Virginia Legislature. There are seventeen senatorial districts. Each district has two senators who serve staggered four-year terms. Although the Democratic Party held a supermajority in t ...
from the 5th district, which contains Cabell County and a small portion of Wayne County. He served in both chambers of the
West Virginia Legislature The West Virginia Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of West Virginia. A bicameral legislative body, the legislature is split between the upper Senate and the lower House of Delegates. It was established under Article VI o ...
in Charleston over the course of 20 years, having been elected as a member of the House in 1994, and elected to the Senate in 2002. He gave up his seat to run in the 2014 congressional election, defeating incumbent
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
Nick Rahall Nicholas Joseph Rahall II (born May 20, 1949) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2015. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States Hous ...
. Jenkins was a candidate for the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
in
2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
, losing to West Virginia Attorney General
Patrick Morrisey Patrick James Morrisey (born December 21, 1967) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 34th Attorney General of West Virginia since 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party. Morrisey was elected Attorney General of West Vi ...
in the primary election.


Early life and education

Jenkins, a lifelong resident of Huntington, is the son of Dorothy C. Jenkins and the late John E. Jenkins Jr. He attended public schools. Jenkins earned his B.S. in education and business administration from the
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
in 1983. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor from Samford University
Cumberland School of Law Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law schoo ...
in 1987.


Early career

He was the executive director of the West Virginia State Medical Association, and taught business law as an instructor at
Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...
. He is also the former Co-Chairman of the Health Care Committee in the West Virginia State Chamber of Commerce. He formerly served as general counsel of the West Virginia State Chamber of Commerce.


West Virginia Legislature

Jenkins served on both sides of the legislature in Charleston as a member of the Democratic Party, having first been elected as a member of the
West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...
in 1994. He lost a race for the
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 ...
in 2000. Jenkins was then elected to the West Virginia State Senate in 2002, after defeating Democratic incumbent Marie Redd in the primary election and former State Senator Thomas Scott in the general election. In 2006, Jenkins once again defeated Redd in the primary election, and Scott in the general election (with 64% of the vote). In 2010, Jenkins was again re-elected to the West Virginia State Senate, District 5, running unopposed in the general election.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections


2014

In July 2013, Jenkins announced he was switching to the Republican Party in preparation for a run at
West Virginia's 3rd congressional district West Virginia's 3rd congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in southern West Virginia. The district covers the state's second-largest city, Huntington; includes Bluefield, Princeton, and Beckley; and has a long history of coa ...
seat, held by 19-term Democrat
Nick Rahall Nicholas Joseph Rahall II (born May 20, 1949) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2015. He is the longest-serving member ever of the United States Hous ...
. He had actually grown up as a Republican, but became a Democrat in 1992 prior to his run for the House of Delegates. On switching parties, Jenkins stated that: "West Virginia is under attack from Barack Obama and a Democratic Party that our parents and grandparents would not recognize." West Virginia's 3rd district had long been a Democratic stronghold on the congressional level, but had been swept up in the growing Republican tide that had consumed the state since the turn of the century. In 2012, it went for Mitt Romney 66-32 percent, making it the second-most Republican district in the nation to be represented by a Democrat. Jenkins and Rahall had contributed to each other's campaigns in the decade's previous election cycles. Jenkins ran unopposed in the Republican primary. He faced Rahall in the general election in November 2014. An early poll showed Jenkins with a double-digit lead over Rahall. The
National Right to Life Committee The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) is the oldest and largest national anti-abortion organization in the United States with affiliates in all 50 states and more than 3,000 local chapters nationwide. Since the 1980s, NRLC has influen ...
, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and West Virginians for Life, all of which had previously supported Rahall, supported Jenkins in 2014, and the West Virginia Coal Association endorsed Jenkins in September 2014. On October 2, managing editor Kyle Kondik of Sabato's Crystal Ball said the race was a toss-up, calling it "Super close, super expensive and super nasty." Rahall outspent Jenkins in the election by a two-to-one ratio. In the general election, Jenkins defeated Rahall, taking 55% of the vote to 45% — the second-largest margin of defeat for a House incumbent in the 2014 cycle. As a measure of how Democratic much of this district once was, when Jenkins took office on January 3, 2015, he became the first Republican to represent what is now the 3rd since 1957 (the district was numbered as the 4th before 1993), and the first Republican to represent most of the district's southern portion since 1933 (most of which was the 5th district before it was eliminated in 1973). In addition, Jenkins' victory, along with those of
Alex Mooney Alexander Xavier Mooney (born June 7, 1971) is an American politician serving since 2015 as the U.S. representative from . A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 3rd district in the Maryland State Senate from 1999 to 2011 and is ...
and
David McKinley David Bennett McKinley (born March 28, 1947) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, McKinley was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from ...
, meant that West Virginia had an all-Republican House delegation for the first time since 1923.


2016

Jenkins defeated Democratic candidate Matt Detch in the November 2016 general election with 67.9% of the vote.


Tenure

Jenkins was a member of the
Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a 501(c)(4) organization that was allied with the congressional Republican Main Street Caucus. The Partnership continues to exist, while the Caucus was dissolved by its members in February 2019. Hist ...
.


Committee assignments

*
Committee on Appropriations The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...
** Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies ** Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies ** Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch


Caucus memberships

*
Congressional Arts Caucus The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress. History The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...
*
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus, founded in September 2003, is a bipartisan congressional organization with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advanc ...


2018 U.S. Senate election

On May 8, 2017, Jenkins announced his intention to run for the United States Senate seat held by
Joe Manchin Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor o ...
. His main competitor for the Republican nomination was state Attorney General
Patrick Morrisey Patrick James Morrisey (born December 21, 1967) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 34th Attorney General of West Virginia since 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party. Morrisey was elected Attorney General of West Vi ...
. On May 8, 2018, exactly one year after announcing his bid for the Republican nomination, Jenkins lost the primary, coming in second place to Morrisey.


Political positions


Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

On September 5, 2017, President Trump formally rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. Jenkins supported Trump's decision. Jenkins said, “President Obama overstepped his constitutional authority by creating the DACA program through an executive order. We are a nation of laws and have a responsibility to secure our borders."


Environment

Jenkins feels that some Environmental Protection Agency regulations are too strict, such as those affecting the coal industry and the use of
wood-burning stove A wood-burning stove (or wood burner or log burner in the UK) is a heating or cooking appliance capable of burning wood fuel and wood-derived biomass fuel, such as sawdust bricks. Generally the appliance consists of a solid metal (usually cast ...
s. He supported President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, saying: "The Paris accord puts the United States on an uneven playing field, forcing us to make costly reductions, all while countries like China and India make their own rules."


Health care

In May 2017, Jenkins voted for the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), saying that he supported "coverage for pre-existing conditions, mental health care and substance abuse treatment... Under this legislation, West Virginia would have a choice about what will work best for us." Later in June 2017, Jenkins said that while AHCA allowed states to opt out of the requirement that insurers not discriminate against individuals with preexisting conditions and the requirement that insurers provide "essential health benefits", he did not want West Virginia to seek waivers from those requirements. Asked about the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Ins ...
's estimate that 23 million Americans would lose their insurance under AHCA, Jenkins questioned the accuracy of the CBO's prediction and said that the numbers failed to account for people who will get insurance due to economic growth.


Opioid crisis

In August 2017, Jenkins discussed the issue of the
opioid crisis The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and Drug overdose, overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It in ...
with President Trump on Air Force One on the ride back to Washington after Trump spoke at the National Boy Scout Jamboree. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Jenkins said the issue is important to him. He worked to help get hundreds of millions of dollars for treatment, law enforcement and drug courts. Jenkins said, "In addition, I helped authorize the full $1.6 billion President Trump requested for the southern border wall, which will help stop the flow of
black tar heroin Black tar heroin is a form of heroin that is sticky like tar or hard like coal. Its dark color is the result of crude processing methods that leave behind impurities. Despite its name, black tar heroin can also be dark orange or dark brown in ap ...
into the United States."


West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals

On September 30, 2018, Jenkins resigned from Congress after having been appointed as a justice of the
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 ...
by
West Virginia Governor The governor of West Virginia is the head of government of West VirginiaWV Constitution article VII, § 5. and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's West Virginia National Guard, military forces.WV Constitution article VII, § 12. Th ...
Jim Justice. Jenkins was then elected on November 6, 2018, to fill a remaining six-year term as a justice of the
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 ...
due to the resignation of
Robin Davis Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: ** European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin ** Forest ...
. On November 20, 2020, Jenkins was designated to be Chief Justice effective January 1, 2021. He resigned from the court on February 4, 2022.


Personal life

Jenkins and his wife Elizabeth have three children, two sons and one daughter.


See also

*
List of American politicians who switched parties in office The following American politicians switched parties while they were holding elected office. Federal State Local See also * List of Canadian politicians who have crossed the floor * List of elected British politicians who have chang ...


References


External links


Evan Jenkins for Supreme Court
* * *
Analysis of Jenkin's 2002 victory over Redd.
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Evan 1960 births Living people 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American Presbyterians Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Cumberland School of Law alumni Justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Marshall University faculty Members of the West Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Huntington, West Virginia Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia University of Florida College of Education alumni West Virginia Democrats West Virginia state senators