They don’t need to know what he is on the ballot for in West Virginia. Voters will back him anyway.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was running to stay in the Senate last time around, but operatives kept finding voters who thought he still lived in the governor’s mansion. “We saw folks leaving the polls thinking they’d just gone to vote for Manchin for governor,” one tells me. “He’s just been around for that long.”
Blind loyalty could be a boon should Manchin decide to run for governor again in 2020. After winning a second term in the Senate, the Democrat reportedly wants his old job back. Hoppy Kercheval reports:
At first glance, the fact that the political veteran is even contemplating the idea may be surprising. After all, Manchin won re-election to another six year term in the Senate just two months ago, and the U.S. Senate is a powerful and prestigious body.
However, Washington and Joe Manchin have never been a comfortable fit. The glacial pace of Congress, the entrenched positions and the political posturing drive him crazy. He’s a consummate dealmaker in a job where deals just aren’t done anymore.
Manchin seems like the rare senator somewhat inoculated from Potomac fever. One of the last moderates left in the middle, he talks openly about preferring Appalachia to the Beltway, even campaigning on the tagline that “Washington sucks.” Returning home for a third term as governor wouldn’t be out of character or out of the question.
“Joe Manchin has shown over and over again, since West Virginia has been a red state, that he is a Democrat who can win in this red state,” says longtime Democratic strategist Mike Plante. “Whether it is running for governor in 2020, or running later to keep his seat in the senate, Joe Manchin is going to be a formidable candidate.”
Republicans found that out the hard way last November when Manchin fended off a challenge from state attorney general Patrick Morrisey, a victory made even more improbable by the fact the Trump carried the state by double digits in 2016.
The law wouldn’t stop him from a third term. The state constitution only limits a governor to two consecutive terms, meaning that after eight years in D.C. Manchin is easily eligible. He wouldn’t be the first governor to return to the office either. Republican Gov. Arch Moore served three terms in this way — two from 1969 until 1977 and another from 1985 to 1989.
While Manchin is “a chief executive at heart” and seems to suffer from homesickness, Plante warns it won’t be so easy for Manchin to just up and leave D.C. He isn’t just the most preeminent politician from West Virginia. He is a centrist whose “vote is not a forgone conclusion.”
“Manchin has carved out a profile for himself that is certainly greater than his seniority and years in the Senate,” Plante explains. “He is a pivotal figure for Republicans and Democrats on key issues. I think he also likes playing that role of helping decide national policy, being a vote that could go either way on critical issues.”
Giving up that prominent position wouldn’t be the only challenge. Manchin would risk alienating national Democrats who rallied to his cause in 2016. He would also have to start fundraising from scratch, as West Virginia law prohibits using federal campaign dollars for state races. Regardless, Manchin has a loyal voter base and another shot at governor if he wants it.
