Senator Joe Manchin, following a national news report about the slim possibility that he could still run for his current seat as an independent, said there’s no way.
Mostly no way.
Manchin said of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, “He knows I’ve already made my decision. I’m happy with my decision.”
CNN reported this week that Schumer had talked with Manchin about the possibility of running as an independent for U.S. Senate, a decision that could be made late in the cycle.
That story made clear that Manchin “threw cold water” on the possibility — but included comments from Manchin that didn’t slam the door. “I think that’s a long, long, long-shot scenario,” Manchin told CNN. He continued, “I don’t know if anything in Washington, DC, is 100 percent.”
The CNN story laid out a scenario where Manchin could feel compelled to run as an independent if the winner of West Virginia’s Democratic primary is Don Blankenship, a political lightning rod and former coal titan who spent a year in jail on a mine safety conspiracy conviction. Blankenship, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018, switched parties and has announced another run.
Manchin’s latest comments were made to Jeff Jenkins of West Virginia MetroNews from the state boys basketball tournament in Charleston.
As he said in the CNN story, Manchin conceded to MetroNews, “You never say never to anything because you never know. But the bottom line is, that’s not where I’m going.
“I’ll support my state and whoever represents my state, I want to help them. Whoever they send as my replacement, I want to help them to take care of West Virginia the way we did.”
Manchin announced Nov. 9 that he would not seek re-election to the Senate seat that he has held since 2010.
Polls have consistently shown two-term Gov. Jim Justice leading the Republican primary for Senate against Congressman Alex Mooney. Democrats in the race for Senate include Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott and Marine Corps veteran Zach Shrewsbury, along with Blankenship.
One of Manchin’s centrist colleagues, Kyrsten Sinema, recently announced she will not seek re-election in Arizona as an independent. That race is a likely matchup between Democrat Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake.
Manchin, 76, considered a presidential run as an independent, but ruled that out last month.
He has continued to promote centrist politics, working with a new organization called Americans Together with his daughter Heather.
“I’m concerned about how divided we’ve become. Washington is broken. It won’t be fixed inside of Washington, so if I can help my daughter through her group Americans Together, I’ll do whatever I can to let people know it’s the sensible middle that will save our country,” he said from the basketball tournament.