CHARLESTON, WV — On Friday, 24 Republicans joined with all 41 Democrats, voting to table a motion to expel Del. Mike Caputo (D Marion, 50) from the West Virginia House of Delegates for assaulting doorman Logan Casterline and a female senior delegate, Sharon Lewis Malcolm (R – Kanawha, 39).
House Minority Leader Del. Tim Miley (D – Harrison, 48) motioned for the expulsion resolution to be immediately tabled after the presentation.
The republicans that voted to table the expulsion include:
- Del. Martin Atkinson III (R – Roane, 11)
- Del. Moore Capito (R – Kanawha, 35)
- Del. Roy Cooper (R – Summers, 28)
- Del. Daryl Cowles (R – Morgan, 58)
- Del. Vernon Criss (R – Wood, 10)
- Del. Mark Dean (R – Mingo, 21)
- Del. Danny Hamrick (R – Harrison, 48)
- Del. Joshua Higginbotham (R – Putnam, 13)
- Del. Eric L. Householder (R – Berkeley, 64)
- Del. David Kelly (R – Tyler, 06)
- Del. John Mandt (R – Cabell, 16)
- Del. Zack Maynard (R – Lincoln, 22)
- Del. Pat McGeehan (R – Hancock, 01)
- Del. Eric Nelson Jr. (R – Kanawha, 35)
- Del. Jeffrey Pack (R – Raleigh, 28)
- Del. Tony Paynter (R – Wyoming, 25)
- Del. Ben Queen (R – Harrison, 48)
- Del. Matthew Rohrbach (R – Cabell, 17)
- Del. John Shott (R – Mercer, 27)
- Del. Brandon Steele (R – Raleigh, 29)
- Del. Erikka Storch (R – Ohio, 03)
- Del. Chris Toney (R – Raleigh, 31)
- Del. Steve Westfall (R – Jackson, 12)
- Del. Evan Worrell (R – Cabell, 18)
The motion to table the resolution passed 65-35.
Additionally, Delegates also tabled a motion to censor Del. Mike Caputo for the remainder of the 2019 Legislative Session (approximately 24-48 hours remaining), with 21 Republicans joining all 41 Democrats.
Del. Higginbotham, Del. Householder, Del. Pack, and Del. Toney switched, and voted against tabling the motion to censor Captuo. Del. Mike Azinger (R) switched, and voted against the censorship.
“What we’re doing here: we are condoning violence. Make no doubt about it. When you vote that you want this man to stay in, you are condoning violence,” Del. Malcolm passionately expressed on the house floor. “Today is International Women’s Day. ‘Hello.’ You are promoting violence against women and [a young person]. This is terrible. If you don’t vote to censor this man, you’re supporting violence. Your people will know it, America will know it, and it’s going to go all over the world too. You vote your conscience. If you have a conscience, you’ll vote for women not to be abused, and against violence. Free speech is free speech, but when you put your hands on somebody, twice (two separate people within 3 minutes), you got some consequences coming and I’m going to guarantee you: they’re coming.”
Immediately following Malcolm’s remarks, Del. Steve Westfall (R- Jackson, 12) proposed a motion to table the censorship resolution. It was also tabled, 62-38.