Deeds files lawsuit to remove his opponent, Love, from Senate primary ballot

By RealWV Staff, 

CHARLESTON, WV – On March 9, Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, filed a civil lawsuit in Kanawha County against Dr. Robert Shirley Love, who is challenging Deeds for the 10th District Senate seat. 

Attorney Mark Atkins, of Bowles Rice, represented Deeds in the court filing and explained the nature of the lawsuit in his petition: “The purpose of this petition is to seek a declaration from the Court that Robert Shirley Love is constitutionally ineligible to appear on the ballot as a candidate for the West Virginia Senate for Senatorial District 10 because he has not been a citizen of the State of West Virginia for the five years preceding the November 3, 2026, general election, as required by Article IV, Section 4 of the West Virginia Constitution.” 

Robert Shirley Love, a chiropractor and grandson of the late Senator Shirley Love, D-Fayette, filed precandidacy paperwork to run for WV Senate on August 29, 2025. He provided a residency address of Fayetteville, WV. 

Deeds alleges in the court filing that Love lived in Georgia until at least 2022 or 2023 and voted in Georgia during the 2022 election. Several social media posts from Love’s account were included as pieces of evidence, indicating that Love and his wife moved back to Fayette County from Georgia sometime in late 2023 or early 2024. 

Article IV, Section 4 of the West Virginia Constitution states: “No person, except citizens entitled to vote, shall be elected or appointed to any state, county or municipal office; but the governor and judges must have attained the age of thirty, and the attorney general and senators the age of twenty-five years, at the beginning of their respective terms of service; and must have been citizens of the state for five years next preceding their election or appointment, or be citizens at the time this constitution goes into operation.”

Citing several cases where the court upheld that principle and disqualified candidates in similar positions, including Andrea Kiessling most recently, Deeds asked the court to consider the case on an “expedited” basis due to the upcoming primary election. 

An emergency hearing before Judge Kenneth Ballard was scheduled for March 16, 2026. Love faxed a letter to the court on March 13, four days after the initial filing and three days before the hearing, asking for time to hire legal counsel before the emergency hearing. 

“Senator Deeds and his team have had months to prepare and file this,” Love states in the letter. “Would the court be willing to grant me some extra time to gain representation and prepare, please?” 

Deeds objected, saying, “The election calendar requires that absentee ballots be printed and prepared imminently, with early voting and other election administration deadlines quickly approaching. Delaying consideration of this matter risks interfering with ballot preparation and distribution and could result in voters casting ballots for a candidate whose eligibility is constitutionally disputed.”

To resolve the issue, Deeds asked the court to: 1) withdraw Love’s candidacy; 2) not to include Love on any ballots; 3) direct all local election officials not to tally any votes cast for Love; 4) and require local election officials to notify voters that Love is not an eligible candidate. 

While the court filing did not include a judgment, Love told RealWV that the judge ordered him on March 16 at the scheduled hearing to be removed from the ballot due to not meeting the 5-year residency requirement. Love subsequently suspended his campaign, as announced in a video posted to his social media.

“As far as my request for time, I do think it was very unfair,” Love said via text message on Tuesday. “I was served the evening of Monday the 9th and expected to be in court the following Monday the 16th. I contacted four firms and had two consults in those four business days in between. Neither could take my case.”

“I contend that this was only an emergency motion because they waited until the last possible week to file it. I have been an announced candidate since last August and filed my formal candidacy on the very first filing day in January. They chose to wait to file this until the last possible minute.”

Deeds also sued Lee Forbes, his opponent in the 2022 election for Senate District 10, and he was removed from the ballot just before the general election. Deeds argued that Forbes was ineligible as the district’s other senator was from Summers County. 

The Republican primary for Senate District 10 (which includes Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas, & Summers counties) will now only include Deeds and Pastor Jonathan Comer, R-Greenbrier, a candidate backed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey The winner will face Kent Gilkeson in the general election.

Love said of the race, “I will be supporting Jonathan Comer going forward and encouraging my supporters to rally behind him as well.”

Correction: A previous version of this story said that Deeds sued to have Lee Forbes removed from the primary ballot in 2022. But Deeds sued to have Forbes removed from the general election ballot in 2022.