Andrew McCoy "Mac" Warner (born February 18, 1955) is an American attorney, veteran, and the current

West Virginia Secretary of State The Secretary of State of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election res ...

. He announced his candidacy for Governor of West Virginia in 2024 on January 10, 2023.

Early life and education

Warner graduated from

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

at West Point and later with a J.D. from

West Virginia University School of Law The West Virginia University College of Law is the professional school for the study of law at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. The law school was established in 1878 as the first professional school in the ...

and LL.M. from JAG School and

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

in International Law.

Career

Warner served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. He retired from military service and became a

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

contractor. Warner reorganized the Secretary of State's office upon taking control of the West Virginia Secretary of State's office, resulting in the firing of approximately 16 staffers. All employees of the Secretary of State are hired at the "will and pleasure" of the elected office holder and have no civil service status. The Warner layoffs included staff members who have served multiple administrations—Republican and Democrat. In January 2018, the West Virginia Secretary of State's office announced that it had processed 45,000 new voter registrations in 2017, including 13,995 high school students, while over 86,000 registrations were cancelled due to death, out of date information, duplication, or felony status. Warner and Attorney General of West Virginia

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 V ...

sided with the

Ohio Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corporations, etc.) and granting them the author ...

in a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case regarding a state's right to purge voter registration rolls. The court ruled 5-4 in Ohio's favor. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and made false claims of fraud, Warner defended Trump's claims and participated in "Stop the Steal" protests. Warner opposes the For the People Act, which would expand voting rights. He opposes automatic voter registration, mail-in voting, and same-day voter registration.

Personal life

He lives in

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as the home of West Virginia Universit ...

. He is brothers with

Kasey Warner Karl Kuldrian "Kasey" Warner II is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. Early life and education Kasey Warner graduated from United States Military Academy at West Point in 1 ...

, former

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 and fellow former J.A.G. Corps officer. His other brothers are Kris Warner, former chairman of the

West Virginia Republican Party The West Virginia Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in West Virginia. Mark Harris is the party chair. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all three of West Virginia's U.S. House seat ...

, and Monty Warner, the 2004 Republican nominee for

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

.macwarner2020.com
/ref> He is the father of four children, who are all current or former Army officers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Mac 1950s births United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Living people Politicians from Morgantown, West Virginia Secretaries of State of West Virginia United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from West Virginia 2016 United States presidential electors University of Virginia School of Law alumni West Virginia Republicans West Virginia University alumni The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School alumni 21st-century American politicians Lawyers from Morgantown, West Virginia Candidates in the 2024 United States elections