Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Armstead was born in Charleston February 26, 1965. After attending Braxton County High School, he earned his B.A. in political science and history from the University of Charleston in 1987 and his J.D. from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1990. Elected to the House of Delegates in 1998 as a Republican, he became House Minority Leader in 2007. In 2015, he became the first Republican Speaker of the House in 84 years.

On August 21, 2018, he resigned from the House to run for the unexpired term of Supreme Court Justice Menis Ketchum. Governor Jim Justice appointed Armstead to fill the vacant seat until the November 6 election. He defeated nine other candidates in the nonpartisan election and sat on the court until he was elected to a full term in the 2020 regular election.