HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- He's the first West Virginia Supreme Court justice from Huntington to take the bench in 80 years and now Menis Ketchum is ready to take his dream job in Charleston.
"I'll be honest, the ketchup ads elected me," Ketchum said, referring to TV commercials that poked fun at the similarity between his last name and ketchup.
The catchy ketchup commercials paid off for Ketchum, a Huntington attorney, who won a seat on the state Supreme Court bench.
"After two weeks of ketchup ads airing, everywhere I went people said, 'You're the ketchup guy,' " Ketchum said.
Now that Ketchum has won, he said he wants to bring integrity back to the bench.
"Justices have to divorce themselves from the social scene and politics and speeches," he said. "They need to just sit up there and work and be judicial."
Ketchum's grandfather was a politician in Wayne County decades ago. His father started the family law firm. Now, Ketchum will take his years of law experience and apply it to the state Supreme Court.
He said his door-to-door campaign in the state's Eastern Panhandle helped make a difference in his win. Ketchum will take the bench Jan. 1.