Senator Joe Manchin has clarified the outlook on his political future regarding the 2024 election by announcing on Wednesday that he will not run for president. “I’m not running for President of the United States,” Manchin told MetroNews during a radio interview broadcast from the State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia. However, he did not say whether he would be running for re-election to keep his seat in the U.S. Senate. Republicans see the seat as a top target to flip in the 2024 election cycle.
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Rep. Alex Mooney, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, is lining up to try and unseat Manchin should he decide to run again.
According to Fox:
Republican Gov. Jim Justice is also rumored to be mulling a run. He was first elected as a Democrat in the 2016 gubernatorial election, but switched parties at a rally with then-President Donald Trump in 2017, and was ultimately re-elected as a Republican in 2020
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who was the Republican nominee defeated by Manchin in 2018, is also reportedly considering another run.
No other Democrats have announced their intention to join the race, presumably until Manchin makes a decision on his candidacy.
Manchin was first elected in a 2010 special election before being elected to a full six-year term in 2012. He was narrowly re-elected for a second term in 2018, but has drawn ire from his red-state constituents after supporting President Biden’s massive $739 billion Inflation Reduction Act last year.
Manchin went on to tell talk radio host Hoppy Kercheval, “You don’t know who the Democrat and Republican nominee are going to be,” he said. “My goal is to bring the country together.”
Joe Manchin owns a Maserati, one of the few in West Virginia. Will Maserati Manchin announce his plans for re-election to the U.S. Senate?
