Election 2008: Short Takes (Updated)

Besides the big splash made by WVU law professor Bob Bastress into the two-seat Supreme Court race, other candidates have filed or announced plans to run in advance of Saturday's midnight deadline:

• Both the Register-Herald of Beckley and MetroNews reports that ex-state Sen. Russ Weeks, R-Raleigh, will/may challenge Gov. Joe Manchin's re-election bid. Since losing his Senate seat in 2006, Weeks has written a self-published expose of his time at the Legislature.

• (Update): With a 2 p.m. announcement expected from Weeks, a freshman legislator filed Thursday to challenge Manchin in the primary. Delegate Mel Kessler, D-Raleigh, entered the race this morning, The Associated Press reports.
  

• Hoppy Kercheval of MetroNews' Talkline also speculates that Charleston lawyers Terri Helmick and Dan Greear, a former delegate, could file to challenge Attorney General Darrell McGraw on the GOP ticket.

• U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, has filed her paperwork for a fifth term, AP reports.

• (Update) Delegate Eustace Frederick, D-Mercer, is perhaps the first incumbent from that chamber to announce he's not running to hold his seat. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph has the story.
  

Secretary of State Betty Ireland has a searchable roster of candidate filings to date. The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington also offers some filing information for regional candidates.