Senator Joe Manchin, now an independent, says he has no plans to run for any particular office this cycle: “I am not running.”
But in nearly the same breath, Manchin would not rule out another run, depending on the political situation: “I’ve never closed doors.”
Hoppy Kercheval: Classic Joe Manchin
Manchin, a lifelong Democrat, announced on Friday that he has changed his registration to unaffiliated.
Manchin, who assumed office in the Senate in 2010, has been in the national spotlight as a sometimes difficult-to-get decisive vote in the 50-50 U.S. Senate. Independents currently in the Senate include Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Angus King of Maine and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Each caucuses with Democrats, contributing to the Democratic majority and control of committees.
Manchin acknowledged months ago that he had been thinking about becoming an independent. On MetroNews’ “Talkline” today, Manchin said the change represents his frustration with political divisions between the parties and his future as a centrist working toward political common ground across the country.
“I’ve always been independent. You know, I’ve never been wedded to any party,” Manchin said on “Talkline.”
This move also effectively gives Manchin some options if he wants to seek ballot access as an independent.
“You don’t know what the political arena is going to have. You don’t know what’s going to happen in this toxic political world. So I’ve never shut down any options whatsoever,” Manchin said. “But I have no intentions of running for any political office, elected office.”
If Manchin were to to run as an independent, he would need to kick off a petition and also faced a deadline for the switch.
Independents and other persons not affiliated with one of the major political parties have until August 1 to gather signatures of at least 1% of the votes cast in the race for the seat they’re seeking in the last election, said Deak Kersey, chief of staff for the West Virginia Secretary of State. For a statewide or federal office, those signatures must be received by the Secretary of State by no later than August 1, along with the certificate of announcement and filing fee.
Because a certificate of announcement must be filed with the nominating certificates, the candidate must attest under oath that he “has not been registered as a voter affiliated with any other political party for a period of 60 days before the date of filing the announcement.”
Bottom line, a run by Manchin as an independent meant changing registration by the end of last week, which he did.
Manchin announced last November that he would not seek re-election to the Senate. Since then, Gov. Jim Justice has won the Republican nomination for Senate, and the Democratic candidate is Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott.
Manchin, for years, has been rumored to be interested in another run for governor, a position he held from 2004 to 2010. The Republican candidate for governor is three-term Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and the Democratic candidate is Huntington Mayor Steve Williams.
On “Talkline,” Manchin expressed support for Elliott and Williams in those races.
“If you are unhappy with the Republican nominee, then you have a very good man who is running as a Democrat. He’s very centrist, he’s accomplished, he’s been a mayor in a very difficult time and survived and did extremely well for his city. Steve Williams is a good human being,” Manchn said.
“You have choice. If you’re unhappy with Governor Justice, you have a choice in Glenn Elliott, a good man who’s accomplished, energetic, very smart, from Wheeling, the mayor up there. So there’s good people involved.”
Williams said last week on MetroNews’ “Talkline” that he won’t back down from running and that he anticipates continued support from Manchin.
This morning on the Watchdog radio network in the Wheeling area, Elliott said Manchin has called him to express continued support.
“It doesn’t worry me one bit. The senator called me on Friday after the announcement and made clear he is focused on uniting the country and doing what he can to bring people together and that he has no interest in running for U.S. Senate,” Elliott said. “I take him at his word. He’s been incredibly supportive of my campaign since I launched it.”