Manchin sheepish about plans for the 2024 senate election

Apr. 5—FAIRMONT — U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is still unclear about his plans for the 2024 election cycle.

Names around West Virginia have begun to circulate as the 2024 election cycle creeps closer, with several major elections scheduled for the Mountain State.

The two most notable seats up for election will be the governor's seat and the senate seat currently held by Manchin.

Tuesday in an interview with The Times West Virginia, Manchin continued to remain unclear about his intentions in 2024.

"I won't make a decision until the end of the year... America is the only place in the world that starts the next election the day after the last election," Manchin said. "I've got a lot of work to do this year, we have a lot of challenges right now."

Once an announcement is made, Manchin knows his focus will have to be on defeating his political opponent. As of now, Manchin is thought to be the only Democrat with a chance of keeping the seat blue as West Virginia has turned into a Republican stronghold.

The key Republican who has announced a run for Manchin's seat is U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, who announced his candidacy shortly after winning West Virginia's second congressional district in 2022, where he led an embittered primary campaign against fellow Republican David McKinley following West Virginia's reduction in house representatives from three seats to two seats.

Tuesday, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice issued a statement saying a potential bid for senate is "coming soon." Justice has been poised for a run in the senate since his national publicity during COVID-19 and has polled well against Manchin.

A February poll conducted by The Tarrance Group, a right-leaning think tank, showed Justice polling 52 percent over Manchin's 42 percent.

"I've pretty well made a decision on what I'm going to do and I'll announce that very soon," Justice said Tuesday on a morning radio show. "It's imminent that we're going to make an announcement very soon and out of respect for my family and everything, it's only right that we keep that decision to ourselves."

Another suspected senate candidate is West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who ran against Manchin in 2018 and lost by a margin of just under 20,000 votes. However, Morrisey announced Tuesday that he's set his eyes on the West Virginia gubernatorial election in 2024.

"I'm the only proven conservative in this race with a deep record of fighting and defeating the swamp and the political elites, successfully defending our West Virginia values, and accomplishing the big things West Virginians care about," Morrisey said in a released statement.

While Morrisey is out of the race for senate, a poll released Monday by National Public Affairs shows that Justice is the strongest candidate in the Republican primary.

That poll places Justice at 43 percent, Morrisey at 21 percent and Mooney at 10 percent with 24 percent asked being undecided.

"On the ballot test, Governor Justice has a significant lead — more than 20 points against a field of potential or declared challengers," wrote NPA co-founder Justin Clark and Macy Stepien, vice president for polling and data. "Notably, he dominates in multiple scenarios — one-on-one and among a larger field."

Despite these polls and a growing Republican supermajority, election trackers like The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections still rate the 2024 senate race in West Virginia a toss-up.

Manchin, meanwhile, is still concerned about how divided the U.S. is currently and remains committed to compromising with this Republicans colleagues.

Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.