Former Senate President Mitch Carmichael is coming on board the Justice administration as the state’s economic development director.
Gov. Jim Justice today said he’d planned to announce Carmichael’s appointment during next week’s State of the State address, but then described the hiring when he was asked about it during a regular briefing.
“I don’t know that we have officially announced that yet, but what we’re doing is we’re trying to break out and be more efficient on our economic development. And we feel like Mitch can be a terrific asset there. He will become our economic development director.
“We feel like with his personality — and his stuck-on on personality and everything — that he can really bring some real oomph to us there. At the end of the day what we want to do in West Virginia is lots and lots and lots of good things. We need to constantly work on economic development, expanding tourism, expanding diversification.”
Carmichael’s new role started Monday. Justice said he’d planned to hold off on an announcement though.
“I was really going to do that in my State of the State. That may very well be out and everything. If it is, that’s where we’re moving.”
The most recent director of the state Development Office was Mike Graney. The state’s online directory of state employees now lists Graney as the deputy secretary of Commerce. The secretary of Commerce is Ed Gaunch, one of Carmichael’s old Republican colleagues in the Senate.
That might not be the last move involving duties in the Department of Commerce.
During a separate call with reporters on Wednesday, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw foreshadowed legislation that would “elevate the profile for the Division of Tourism this session. I won’t steal the thunder from the governor. I’ll let him make the announcement about Tourism.”
Carmichael, a Republican from Jackson County, was defeated in the Primary Election last spring by Amy Nichole Grady of Mason County.
Carmichael served as Senate President, which is also West Virginia’s lieutenant governor, starting in 2017.
He began serving in the Senate in 2012 and before that was a member of the House of Delegates, starting in 2000.
Carmichael was employed by the internet firm Citynet as business development manager, although he spent much of his time at the Statehouse even when lawmakers were not meeting.
Broadband development has been described as a priority by a range of West Virginia political figures, including the entire congressional delegation, Justice, new Senate President Craig Blair, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin, House Speaker Hanshaw and House Minority Leader Doug Skaff.
“There are very few things we can get unanimity for in the House than broadband,” Hanshaw said today in a legislative preview.
Carmichael was an open and energetic figure at the Statehouse, although he sometimes wound up in controversies.
In particular, he was persona non grata with teachers during two statewide strikes in recent years. One was over pay and insurance coverage, and teachers believed the Senate’s Republican majority was low-balling improvements. The other was over an education reform package pushed by the Senate majority that opened the state to charter schools.
Carmichael wound up at odds with Justice in both of those instances. In the first strike, he felt Justice had undercut the Senate majority by reaching a unilateral deal with teachers unions. In the second, Justice expressed frustration that a special session got bogged down with the charter schools issue.
As recently as 2019, those issues resulted in a public feud, with Carmichael saying he’d be reluctant to endorse Justice for a second term as governor.
“I’m not one that believes who should want four more years of this type of leadership — or lack of leadership — at the governor’s mansion,” Carmichael said at the time.
Since then, the two Republican political leaders largely patched up their relationship with occasional criticisms coming through. Carmichael was generally complimentary of the governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic over the past year.
A few months ago, Carmichael was rumored to be under consideration as Justice’s new chief of staff. Mike Hall, a former Senate colleague of Carmichael’s, was retiring from the role. The job eventually went to Brian Abraham, who had been Justice’s chief counsel.
While the rumor about the chief of staff role was hot, Carmichael publicly knocked it down and said he was happy with his job at Citynet. Now Carmichael is set for a gig as the state’s top economic development official instead.
Rumor is in a 2nd Justice term, I would serve as COS. This is news to both Gov and me. We meet often, but have never discussed it. I support our Gov and his work. Yet, I love my role with Citynet. I'm focused on improving and enhancing broadband in our great state.
— Mitch Carmichael (@SecCarmichaelWV) October 21, 2020