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"CHARLESTON - Charleston attorney Joanna Tabit has officially kicked off her public campaign for Kanawha Circuit Court judge.<br /><br />Tabit, an attorney with Steptoe & Johnson, had a rally Sept. 20, at Power Alley Grill, to raise public awareness for her campaign. <br /><br />Tabit expressed an interest to return to public service, which is where she started her career in 1986, working as a personal law clerk to then-Judge Thomas E. McHugh. <br /><br />\"I do have a desire to return to public service,\" Tabit said. \"Now I have the experience and energy necessary to be effective.\"<br /><br />No current sitting judge has announced they would not seek re-election, and Tabit maintains that she will not run against a sitting judge. <br /><br />\"I'm planning for what I hope is an open seat,\" she said. \"I'm not going to run against a sitting judge in Kanawha County.\"<br /><br />However, with the filing deadline in late January, Tabit decided to put together a campaign, because her past experience has shown \"you cannot put together a viable campaign in three months,\" she said. <br /><br />If a spot of the Kanawha Circuit Court bench does not become available, Tabit has said she will return any money that has not been spent to the contributors. <br /><br />This is not the first time Tabit has run for circuit court judge. She ran in 2000 for an open seat.<br /><br />Tabit has been worked at Steptoe & Johnson since 1992. Prior to that, she worked in the West Virginia Attorney General office, in the Appellate Division. She is also a pro bono attorney for the West Virginia State Bar and the Civil Legal Assistance Partnership. She is a board member of the Kanawha County Public Defender Corporation. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://wvrecord.com/stories/510592822-tabit-kicks-off-campaign-for-kanawha-circuit-court-judge>