Robert Booth Goodwin II (born 1971) is an American attorney with Goodwin & Goodwin LLP in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

. He served as the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Southern District of West Virginia from 2010 until 2015. Goodwin was a candidate for

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Early life and education

Goodwin was born in

in 1971. He attended

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

, where he graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

1993. He then earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Washington and Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the law school of Washington and Lee University, a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia. It is accredited by the American Bar Association. Facilities are on the histo ...

in 1996.

Career

On January 20, 2010, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated Goodwin to serve as

for the Southern District of West Virginia. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on May 26, 2010 and was sworn into office on June 25, 2010. Goodwin prosecuted

Don Blankenship Donald Leon Blankenship (born March 14, 1950) is an American businessman. He was chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth-largest coal company (by 2008 production) in the United States—from 2000 until 2010 when an explosion ...

, securing a conviction for conspiring to undermine federal mine safety laws, which caused the

Upper Big Branch Mine disaster The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010, roughly underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal. 29 out of 31 at the site were killed. The coal dust explosion ...

. On December 28, 2015, Goodwin announced that he would be stepping down from his position as U.S. Attorney effective at the end of 2015 and returning to private law practice. On January 1, 2016, Goodwin filed candidacy papers with the West Virginia Secretary of State's office to run for governor of West Virginia as a Democrat in the 2016 election. He lost the Democratic primary to

Jim Justice James Conley Justice II (born April 27, 1951) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from West Virginia. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2017 to 2025 as the 36th gover ...

, who went on to win the general election. Goodwin carried two counties, including his home county of Kanawha, as well as neighboring

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

. He finished in second place with 25%, behind Justice and ahead of

Jeff Kessler Jeffrey Vincent Kessler (born November 16, 1955) is an American politician and former Democratic member of the West Virginia Senate in the United States, representing the 2nd district from 1997 to 2017. He is the former President of the Senate ...

. In 2018, Goodwin was treasurer of a

super PAC Independent expenditure-only political action committees, better known as super PACs, are a type of political action committee (PAC) in the United States. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are legally allowed to fundraise unlimited amounts of m ...

designed to oppose the candidacies for U.S. Senate of

Patrick Morrisey Patrick James Morrisey (born December 21, 1967) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 37th governor of West Virginia since 2025. He served as the 34th attorney general of West Virginia from 2013 to 2025. A member of the Repub ...

and Evan Jenkins and support the reelection of

Joe Manchin Joseph Manchin III ( ; born August 24, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia from 2010 to 2025. He was West Virginia's only congressional Democrat until he registered as ...

Personal life

Goodwin's father, Joseph Robert Goodwin, was appointed in 1995 by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

to serve as a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Goodwin's cousin,

Carte Goodwin Carte Patrick Goodwin (born February 27, 1974) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from West Virginia in 2010. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he w ...

, briefly served as the junior

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

in 2010 when he was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A Democratic Pa ...

. Booth Goodwin's wife, Amy Shuler Goodwin, is the mayor of Charleston, West Virginia, having taken office on January 7, 2019. This made Booth Goodwin the first gentleman of Charleston. They wed on April 17, 1999 and have two sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Booth 1971 births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Goodwin family Lawyers from Charleston, West Virginia Living people United States attorneys for the Southern District of West Virginia Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni West Virginia Democrats West Virginia University alumni