CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The toughest fight of Democrat Joe Manchin’s three-plus decades in West Virginia politics comes down to whether he can retain his U.S. Senate seat in a state that was a stronghold for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
Manchin goes after a second full term in the Senate on Tuesday against comparative political newcomer Patrick Morrisey, the two-term Republican state attorney general hoping to ride plenty of attention from Trump in recent months to victory.
Morrisey is trying to give West Virginia two Republican U.S. senators for the first time since 1958, when John D. Hoblitzell, Jr. was appointed to serve a year after the death of Democrat Matthew M. Neely. It would be the first time since 1929 the state has two elected GOP senators. Shelley Moore Capito’s first term ends in 2020.
A former governor, Manchin has worked hard to cozy up to Trump and nurture a bipartisan brand. He’s portrayed himself as loyal to his home state rather than party ideology. Manchin was the only Senate Democrat to vote to confirm U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Morrisey said Manchin lacked leadership on the nomination, calling him “Sideline Joe” for waiting until the very end to announce his vote.
The 50-year-old Morrisey has labeled himself a true conservative while his campaign accused Manchin of being “a dishonest Washington liberal who only acts bipartisan around election day …”
Morrisey became a staunch supporter of Trump, who became popular in Appalachia for making broad promises to put coal miners back to work, despite grim economic forecasts for the industry. Trump won West Virginia by 42 percentage points in 2016 and visited the state three times this fall to rally for Morrisey.
Manchin has questioned Morrisey’s past ties in Washington as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry - West Virginia leads the nation in the rate of drug overdose deaths. Morrisey also tried to fend off criticism of his roots in New Jersey, where he lost a 2000 congressional race.
Manchin has hammered away at Morrisey for being involved in efforts to eliminate health insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions. While Morrisey was among those involved in a federal lawsuit in Texas, he said he had no intention of eliminating those protections.
The 71-year-old Manchin earned the backing of teacher unions after he supported them during a statewide strike earlier this year. He also criticized Morrisey for calling the strike “unlawful” and for saying his office was prepared to support authorities with legal remedies.
Manchin, who won a special election in 2010 after the death of Sen. Robert C. Byrd and was elected again in 2012, has far outraised Morrisey. Manchin’s campaign reported $9.2 million in his latest federal filing, compared to $5.4 million for Morrisey. Both candidates have saturated the airwaves in recent months with political ads.
Morrisey also must deal with another disparity - 42 percent of West Virginia voters are registered Democrats, compared to 32 percent registered Republicans. Yet West Virginia gave Trump his largest margin of victory and has trended hard toward the GOP in recent years. Morrisey was the lone Republican to hold statewide office after he was elected attorney general in 2012. The GOP now controls five of the six offices.
This election could be decided by the 22 percent of voters with no party affiliation and Morrisey has urged residents to head to the polls in bunches.
During the last midterm election in West Virginia in 2014, just 37.4 percent of registered voters cast ballots - the lowest for a regular general election since the secretary of state’s office started keeping such records in 1950.
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