U.S. Senator Joe Manchin has won a six year term in the U.S. Senate this month, but another U.S. Senate seat will be on the ballot within the next two years.
The seat U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat, has held since 1984 will be on the ballot in 2014.
Former state Republican Party Chairman Mike Stuart says it’s time for a change. “Jay Rockefeller has to go,” he said. “I’m not going to mince any words about it.”
Stuart claims Senator Rockefeller is out of step with many people in West Virginia.
The majority of voters in the Mountain State supported Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, for President in the November General Election instead of President Barack Obama who had the backing of Senator Rockefeller.
Stuart says Second District Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, who was just reelected to her seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives, would make a good Republican challenger, if Rockefeller does decide to seek reelection.
“I think somebody of her stature is going to have to step and make sure that somebody in alignment with the people of West Virginia is elected to the United States Senate,” he said.
Stuart’s comments were made before Capito’s scheduled announcement Monday morning at the State Capitol about a run for the Senate seat.
Former state Democrat Party Chairman George Carenbauer says he thinks Capito versus Rockefeller would make for a good race.
“If she runs, she’s very popular. She’s very personable,” he said. “I’m a very strong supporter of Senator Rockefeller, as you might guess since I worked for him for eight years, but that would be a very significant contest.”
Senator Rockefeller was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and reelected in 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008. He was West Virginia’s Governor from 1976 to 1984.
In the U.S. Senate, he currently serves as Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, serves as the Chairman of the Health Care Subcommittee for the Committee on Finance and is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The Senator is on the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the Joint Committee on Taxation, is Co-Chairman of the Senate Steel Caucus and is a U.S. Trade Advisor.
In the House, Congresswoman Capito serves on the House Financial Services Committee and its Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. She is also on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and is co-founder of the Congressional Coal Caucus.