U.S. Senate Story Archives - Page 2 of 11 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Manchin Campaign War Chest Exceeds Potential Rivals

Manchin reported more than $10 million for year-to-date cash on hand. Mooney and Justice combined year-to-date cash on hand totals reach about $2.3 million.

Even though he’s not yet declared, Sen. Joe Manchin’s 2024 campaign contribution totals tower over his potential Republican rivals.

In the second quarter 2023 campaign finance reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Manchin, D-W.Va., raised $1.268,705.31 million. Republican Senate candidate Gov. Jim Justice raised just under $1 million in the second quarter. Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va, raised $550.000.

Manchin reported $10,710,680.37 for year-to-date cash on hand. Mooney and Justice combined year-to-date cash on hand totals reach about $2.3 million.

Marshall University Associate Professor of Political Science Marybeth Beller said many major Manchin contributors come from out-of-state and have maxed out at the new $6,600 contribution limit.

Beller likens Manchin’s war chest to an organization that works to elect progressive women called Emily’s List. EMILY is an acronym for “early money is like yeast.” She said the funds act as a deterrent for any Democrat thinking about taking him on should he declare to run again for Senate.

“I think what’s going on here is that Senator Manchin is working very, very hard to outshine any possible opposition in his party, or across the aisle by raising all of this money,” Beller said. “If anything should happen, and he fails to get the primary nomination, he can return those donations that have already come in for the general.”

Manchin is also co-chair of the national No Labels party and touted as a possible third-party presidential candidate. Beller said Manchin has an all-options-open electoral strategy for No Labels as well.

“That strategy does not include his home state,” Beller said. “West Virginia is already counted in the solid Republican line with no chance of going for any No Labels candidate whatsoever. I don’t think there will be a viable Senate opponent should he decide to run, I’m sure there will be an opponent.”

Beller said in analyzing the FEC numbers, there are a number of banks around West Virginia that are contributing to Manchin. She said ActBlue, which collects small democratic donor contributions and then gives them out to Democrats, could include a lot of West Virginia donors. But she said it’s telling that the big money donations come from elsewhere.

“Of all those thousands of dollars that have come in for Senator Manchin, only four individual contributors are from West Virginia,” Beller said. “It tells me that the senator is very powerful and that a lot of people are courting his votes, and that he is going to be important if he’s still in the Senate. But nobody’s willing to write him off, by any stretch.”

Manchin has said he will make any possible campaign announcement this December.

Economic Development’s Graney Says State Depends On Federal Funds

The EDA has awarded $220 million to fund projects in West Virginia since 2018, he told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

West Virginia economic development leaders told a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday that federal funds are critical to meet the state’s future needs.

Mike Graney, executive director of the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, testified that the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has helped the state weather the loss of coal jobs.

The EDA has awarded $220 million to fund projects in West Virginia since 2018, he told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Those funds have supported water and sewer improvements and building rehabilitation.

Graney said EDA funds will continue to help the state move forward in a changing energy economy.

“West Virginia has been an energy state and will continue to be by adopting an all-of-the-above strategy,” he said. “And we will likely need U.S. EDA assistance as new methods of energy generation are put in operation.”

The EDA, part of the Commerce Department, requires reauthorization from Congress.

Justice Calls Democrats’ Lawsuit ‘Dirty, No-good Politics’

Justice said the Democrats’ actions show they are “running scared” because they have a strong opposing candidate to Sen. Joe Manchin.

Gov. Jim Justice waited a day to publicly respond to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) filing a lawsuit demanding his work schedule and calendar from 2017 to the present.

The DSCC filed the lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court saying Justice has failed to comply with a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request to release his official schedule and calendar.

David Bergstein, the DSCC communications director, said there are key reasons the U.S. Senate candidate cannot hide his work schedule, or lack thereof, from West Virginians.

“This has been an ongoing pattern with Justice, where there’s been media reporting about his lack of availability, how hard he’s working, whether he’s actually doing the job,” Bernstein said. “We believe that he needs to disclose these schedules and calendars.”

In his Wednesday, online media briefing, Justice, a U.S. Senate candidate, said he “doesn’t keep a calendar,” that he’s “worked more hours than any other governor for the people of West Virginia” and his progress isn’t measured by a clock.

“I don’t keep gold stars for perfect attendance,” Justice said. “I give gold stars not for effort but for accomplishment. You can’t accomplish anything if you don’t have real passion and you’re not working all the time. I don’t go on vacation. I don’t do that. I work all the time.”

Justice said the Democrats’ actions show they are “running scared” because they have a strong opposing candidate to Sen. Joe Manchin, a candidate who could help Republicans gain a U.S. Senate majority.

“Senate Democrats are scared to death that there’s finally somebody who’s going to take Manchin’s spot, whether Manchin runs or not, and Republicans are going to take control of the Senate,” he said.

Justice said he has not yet seen the lawsuit and will address it once he has.

A Look At Upcoming Elections On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, it’s still a year away, but already, West Virginia’s U.S. Senate election is set to be one of the most competitive and most watched in the country. To get an idea of how it might shape up, Curtis Tate spoke with Kyle Kondik, communications director for the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

On this West Virginia Morning, it’s still a year away, but already, West Virginia’s U.S. Senate election is set to be one of the most competitive and most watched in the country.

To get an idea of how it might shape up, Curtis Tate spoke with Kyle Kondik, communications director for the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

Kondik is also managing editor of its widely read newsletter, Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

Also, in this show, voters in Kentucky will pare down a 12-candidate field for the Republican nomination for governor. As Lisa Autry of WKYU reports, it’s a job Republicans have struggled to hold, despite a strong showing in other races.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Justice Begins Campaign For U.S. Senate

Thursday afternoon at his family’s Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, with Babydog by his side, Gov. Jim Justice announced he is running for the United States Senate from West Virginia.

Justice is term-limited and cannot run for a third term as governor. He has been speculating about this run for months. He ran for governor in 2016 as a Democrat but switched parties roughly six months into his first term at a rally held by former President Donald Trump in Huntington.

Republican U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, W.Va., and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina introduced Justice by saying he’s needed in Washington to help return the U.S. Senate to a Republican majority. Capito spoke of her partnership with Justice.

“We’ve worked on economic development,” Capito said. “We’ve worked on the COVID response together. We worked on broadband deployment. I think we’re really gonna make a good pair in Washington.”

Graham said he came to this announcement because Justice is needed in the U.S. Senate.

“We need help in Washington,” Graham said. “We need a winner. We need somebody who can win in a general election, a conservative who can move the ball forward in Washington, D.C.”

Justice opened his remarks by giving numerous reasons the Biden Administration is going down the wrong path. He touted his six-year record in West Virginia with tax cuts, an abortion ban, campus carry, school choice and huge budget surpluses. He said he will take that work ethic, wrapped in conservative values, to Capitol Hill.

“Too many politicians today want something for them,” Justice said. “I’ve never wanted anything. How in the world do you think we’re perceived with our allies? I mean, look what happened in Afghanistan? Look what’s going on at the border. Look what’s going on with inflation. Look what’s going on with energy. It’s just all over the park. We’re gonna have to do something about it.”

Justice’s key competitor in the Republican Primary will be U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney. Both men have been endorsed in previous elections by former President Donald Trump. West Virginia Republican Party Chair Elgine McArdle said a Trump endorsement could be key.

“It could be important, especially in the state of West Virginia,” McArdle said. “West Virginia went heavily for President Trump in the last election, and we are very, very red at this point. I think President Trump’s influence, certainly in West Virginia, is strong. And I think that will potentially play a big role in the primary.”

The West Virginia Democratic Party Chair is Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha. He said a Justice/Mooney primary will be a messy battle, with both candidates damaged going into the general election.

“On one hand, you have a congressman who is still under a Congressional Ethics probe for misuse of campaign funds that he’s appeared to spend on himself,” Pushkin said. “And on the other side, you have a governor who has had scandal with the State Police, a totally toxic culture at the DHHR, our prisons are under a state of emergency because they’re so understaffed that he’s had to call in the National Guard. They will be damaged,”

The state’s other incumbent U.S. senator is Democrat Joe Manchin, who said he’ll announce his election plans in December. He faced stiff opposition in his last election from Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, but Morrisey has declared his intention to run for governor.

In deeply red West Virginia, political observers believe Manchin’s seat is in play to flip Republican, with the potential to shift control of the evenly divided chamber away from Democrats.

On his website, Manchin said any race he runs, he will win.

“I am laser focused on doing the job West Virginians elected me to do,” Manchin said. “Lowering healthcare costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, shoring up American energy security and getting our fiscal house in order. But make no mistake, I will win any race I enter.”

Coal miner and self-described “ultra-MAGA” political outsider Chris Rose has also announced a run for the seat.

Justice closed his announcement remarks by bringing his extended family on stage, shy grandson and all, and quoting one of his father’s homespun sayings.

“Any frog that is not proud of their own pond isn’t much of a frog,” Justice said. “Just know this, I’m certain of this family, me and even Babydog that we’re dang proud of the United States of America and this great state.”

The West Virginia Primary Election is a little more than a year away.

Justice Expected To Make Senate Announcement

After months of speculation, Gov. Jim Justice is expected to announce his bid for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Joe Manchin later Thursday.

The Justice campaign has scheduled an announcement from The Greenbrier Resort that he owns with his family at 5 p.m. News reports indicate Justice has already filed his candidacy papers with the Federal Elections Commission.

Justice is term-limited and cannot run for a third term as governor. He ran for governor in 2016 as a Democrat but switched parties roughly six months into his first term at a rally held by former President Donald Trump in Huntington.

Manchin has not announced whether or not he will run for a third term. He faced stiff opposition in his last election from Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, but Morrisey has declared his intention to run for governor.

In deeply red West Virginia, political observers believe Manchin’s seat is in play to flip Republican, with the potential to shift control of the evenly divided chamber away from Democrats.

Republican U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney declared earlier this year that he was running for the seat. Mooney was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014.

Coal miner and self-described “ultra-MAGA” political outsider Chris Rose has also announced a run for the seat.

A live stream of the Special Announcement will be available at: