By Andrew Spellman
The Spirit of Jefferson
New information has been received that the money funded for local political attack ads by the group Citizens for Better Communities has ties to Gov. Patrick Morrisey and West Virginia Senate President Randy Smith.
The ads, which have been dispersed between physical mailers, robocalls and text messages, have been aimed at multiple Republican candidates across the state that have seemingly not walked in lockstep with the Morrisey Administration, though, locally, they have primarily been aimed at Jefferson County Commissioner Cara Keys.
Keys is running for the female chair position on the county’s Republican Executive Committee for the Shepherdstown District, a volunteer board, and pushed back during House Bill 2014’s movement through Charleston during the 2025 session, raising the alarm that the bill stripped counties of control over the construction and regulation of high-impact data centers and microgrids. At the time, Morrisey, who pushed for the legislation, denied claims that it was an overreach by the state, directly responding to Keys on one of her social media posts supporting HB 2014.
According to independent expenditure forms filed with the State, Citizens for Better Communities paid a total of $11,250 to Mainstream Consulting, LLC, in opposition to Keys, split between two payments of $10,000 and $1,250 made on May 7. Conversely, on the same form, a payment of $2,851.68 was made to support Sue McKinney, a Republican State Executive Committee candidate. McKinney was endorsed by the governor’s wife, Denise Morrisey, in a paid Facebook post on the same day.
Reports regarding contributions made to Citizens for Better Communities have not been released at this time.
Also that same day, Citizens for Better Communities filed a $4,000 expenditure against Robert Fluharty, who is running against incumbent Wayne Clark in the District 99 primary race. Clark was a staunch supporter of HB 2014 and other Morrisey-backed initiatives.
The filings are listed as “last-minute independent report[s],” which is a payment of $5,000 or more made for races within 15 days and before 12 hours of an election.
On the form, Citizens for Better Communities lists Christopher Woodfin, a lawyer in Williamsburg, Va., as an officer. Additional information on the Federal Election Commission’s site shows Woodfin is the organization’s treasurer, and that the organization’s address is the same as the Campaign Compliance Center, a political compliance firm run by Woodfin in Williamsburg. Additionally, Woodfin is the treasurer of Mountaineer Conservative Action, a PAC with an address in Morgantown that falls under a Delaware-based corporation, according to West Virginia Public Radio.
That corporation, Mountaineer Conservative Coalition, Inc., is associated with Smith and “represents [his] political actions” according to WV MetroNews, and is currently leveraging ads against Tom Takubo (R-Kanawha) in his state senate primary race. Further reporting by MetroNews shows that the organization was incorporated by representatives of Dickinson Wright, a law firm based in Washington, D.C., that has “provided legal services to the political campaigns” for Morrisey since 2020.
Additional reporting by the Virginia Mercury also highlighted Woodfin’s connection to two Virginia PACs, one of which, Democracy and Justice, had a direct connection to a Republican mailer scandal in the state in March. It also shares the same address as the aforementioned firm.
Woodfin was not available for comment.
Keys responds to new information
When asked about the new information, Keys said it’s “deeply disappointing to see this kind of dark money attack campaign brought into our county … rooted in misogynistic rhetoric.”
“Our community expects its leaders to model civility, transparency and independence from outside influence,” she said. “These attacks undermine all three. There is no place in our public discourse for tactics that diminish or target individuals based on gender.
“Even more troubling is the involvement of local officials who appear to support or even help orchestrate these efforts. That behavior is unacceptable and falls far short of the standard residents deserve from those in positions of public trust.”
Further, a Facebook page “Panhandle Patriot,” that claims to be a news organization, has been lambasting Keys and other commissioners by highlighting the ads. Though unconfirmed, sources say the Facebook page is linked to Dan Casto, a local public figure with a mired history in the county, including a defamation lawsuit brought against him in 2022 by former county commissioner Tricia Jackson.
The Journal reported at the time that, in that lawsuit, Jackson was seeking $5.35 million from Casto for “false and defamatory statements” from the internet due to his “alleged involvement with Jefferson County Prosperity, Inc., a non-profit organization, which Jackson’s suit claims was ‘used as weapon to publish opposition research about Democratic Party candidates and others who opposed (Casto’s) views.’” The Journal further wrote that, despite withdrawing from the group in 2020, Casto commenced a “smear campaign,” on Facebook including posts of her with members of the Proud Boys, a far-right political group.
When asked for comment, Casto denied a connection to the Facebook page, writing, “In Jefferson County, I’m the scapegoat of choice, but this is a new low even for my critics. I am not responsible for the ‘Panhandle Patriot.’ It’s flattering to live rent-free in Commissioner Keys’ head, but I’d appreciate being left out of her evergrowing and well known personal drama. Given the gravity of these false claims against me, I suggest she and The Spirit consult with a lawyer, they’re both going to need one.”
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