The biggest surprise in last week's statewide primary election had to be the results of the four-way race for two Democratic nominations for 12-year terms as justices of the five-member West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

The results that gave former justice Margaret Workman and Huntington attorney Menis Ketchum the victory over incumbent Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard and West Virginia University law school professor Bob Bastress had to be a surprise to most observers despite the caustic campaign attacks on Maynard's friendship with coal company mogul Don Blankenship.

And with Charleston attorney Elizabeth (Beth) Walker as the lone Republican candidate who earned an automatic spot on the ballot in November, it raises the tantalizing possibility that three of the five justices on the high court could be women starting in 2009.

Workman was the first woman elected to the court back in 1988 and served nearly 11 years of her 12-year term before resigning Aug. 31, 1999. Current Justice Robin Davis became only the second woman on the court when she was elected in 1996.

Since the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce spent nearly $600,000 in the primary election in an effort to help Justice Maynard win another 12-year term, it seems likely that organization will put its political clout behind Walker and fight against Ketchum in this fall's general election campaign, just as that group singled him out in the primary.

Right now, Workman figures to be the prohibitive favorite to win one of the two Supreme Court seats in November, since she finished first in the Democratic primary with nearly 180,000 votes to just less than 135,000 for Ketchum. So the real race almost certainly will be for the second seat.

And if Walker were to beat Ketchum and become only the third Republican elected to the court since 1928, then women would constitute a majority of the court for the first time in state history.

There have been several other Republicans to serve on the court in the last half century, but most of them were appointed by Republican governors to fill vacancies created by resignations. Cecil Underwood appointed two Republicans during his last term (1997-2001), and Arch A. Moore Jr. appointed no fewer than five Republicans to the court during his first two terms.

The only other Republican to win a term on the court between 1928 and the 2004 victory of current Justice Brent Benjamin over incumbent Democrat Warren McGraw was Charles H. Haden II in 1972 shortly after he was appointed to fill a vacancy by Moore.

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Meanwhile, some of the changes already assured in the 2009-2010 state Legislature because of last week's primary election will begin with a new face in a key leadership post in the House of Delegates.

Majority Leader Joe DeLong will not be returning because he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state. Despite outspending winner Natalie Tennant, he finished second, more than 50,000 votes behind her. Logan County Democrat Lydella Hrutkay, who has been chairman of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, was another Democrat casualty in the four-member 19th District primary election that covers Logan and Lincoln counties.

On the Senate side, attention in November will focus on the Republican Party's efforts to maintain its 11 seats in the 34-member Democrat-dominated chamber. Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, can expect tough competition from former House maverick Jim McNeely, who defeated former Sen. Anita Skeens Caldwell in last week's Democratic primary.

Former Minority Leader Vic Sprouse, R-Kanawha, didn't run this time, and current House member Corey Palumbo, a Democrat, is an early favorite to win that seat as well. And former Democrat Sen. Mike Ross from Randolph County should give incumbent Republican Clark Barnes a close battle, since Ross is still smarting from his loss to Barnes four years ago.

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Finally, much is being made of the fact that the popularity of Gov. Joe Manchin may be on the decline since he only defeated token primary opponent Marvin Kessler by a 3-1 margin. These critics must be ignoring the fact Manchin carried every one of the state's 55 counties.

It's more likely that at least half the 89,389 votes for Delegate Melvin Kessler, D-Raleigh, were the voters' way of indicating some personal dislike for Manchin than a positive vote for Kessler. That's probably going to be the same scenario for the November race against former state senator Russ Weeks, also a Raleigh County resident.

Tom Miller is a retired state government reporter for The Herald- Dispatch.