Warren McGraw

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Warren McGraw is a long serving politician and ultra successful trial lawyer in West Virginia, known for his progressive views and close association with labor union leaders and the people of the State. A populist candidate Warren McGraw has been elected to a wider variety of public offices than any other West Virginian in the history of the State. He is a graduate of Morris Harvey College and the Wake Forest University law school. He is the brother of West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw. The McGraws are the only two brothers to have both held the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the State of West Virginia. Warren has been married to his wife Peggy, a retired school teacher for over 43 years and they have 3 children. Warren Randolph McGraw II, who was elected 5 times to the West Virginia state legislature and was also elected to numerous executive committe positions. The Honorable Helen Suzanne McGraw, has been elected twice as a Family Court Judge, a position she currently holds. Rebecca Lynn McGraw, M.D., currently practices medicine in West Virginia. Rbecca and her mother Peggy helped to manage the campaigns. Warren and Peggy have 6 grandchildren.

He is a member of the United States Democratic Party. He was elected to the state Senate in 1972 and re-elected through a term ending in 1985. He was elected the president of the Senate (Lt. Governor), in 1981 and was re-elected in [(1983)].

In 1984 he gave up his Senate seat to enter the primary election for Governor of West Virginia. However, he finished a close second in a three-way election after being outspent by more than 15 to 1. He then resumed his career as a very successful trial lawyer with some of the largest civil verdicts/ settlements in West Virginia.

In 1990 he was elected to his local school board. In 1996 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney where he quickly developed a reputation as a tough on crime prosecutor. In 1998 he was elected to an unexpired 6 year term on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. After what has been termed by media outlets around the country as the most expensive judicial race and the nastiest in the entire country, wherein the oposition strategy was lead by Carl Rove, he was defeated by Brent D. Benjamin and several large wealthy coal companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a hotly-contested election in 2004. McGraw's campaign in this election is documented in the award winning film The Last Campaign by Wayne Ewing, a follow up to the very successful and popular film If Elected which followed his first campaign for State Senate and was featured on Bill Moyers Journal.

His web site is www.warrenmcgraw.com