W. Va. —State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won a contentious Republican primary for U.S. Senate in West Virginia, beating convicted ex-coal executive Don Blankenship.
Morrisey also outdistanced Congressman Evan Jenkins and three others in Tuesday’s race.
Morrisey will face incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin, who easily defeated challenger Paula Jean Swearengin, in November. Both parties view the general election as key to Senate control for the next two years.
The primary became a test of President Trump’s clout. He came out strongly against Blankenship, who served prison time for a deadly mine disaster.
A two-term attorney general, Morrisey promoted his record of challenging policies under the administration of former President Barack Obama.
Morrisey deflected criticism of his past lobbying ties to the pharmaceutical industry and his roots in New Jersey, where he lost a 2000 congressional race.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he looks forward to a “spirited” fall campaign and expects that Trump “will get involved” on behalf of his GOP opponent despite Manchin’s “good relationship” with the president.
Manchin coasted to the Democratic nomination Tuesday but remains a top Republican target given his state’s heavy GOP lean and overwhelming support for Trump.
The senator says he plans to campaign as he always has: a bipartisan problem solver who works “for West Virginians.”
Manchin told supporters at his Charleston campaign headquarters that the nation has “unfinished business” on affordable health care, infrastructure, taking care of veterans and helping working-class Americans like his state’s coal workers.
West Virginia Congressman Evan Jenkins has conceded the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Before The Associated Press declared a winner in the race, Jenkins told a gathering of supporters Tuesday night that “it looks like it may be a little too far” to make up ground.
Jenkins had raised $1.5 million during his campaign yet was far outspent by both state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and former coal executive Don Blankenship.
Jenkins and Morrisey often clashed during debates. Morrisey had criticized Jenkins for his liberal background and his past stint as a Democrat. Jenkins switched to Republican before winning his seat in Congress in 2014.
Voters didn’t heed Jenkins’ criticism of Morrisey’s New Jersey roots. Jenkins also continuously brought up Morrisey’s past lobbying ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
West Virginia Republican Don Blankenship conceded the Republican Senate nomination but remained defiant until the end.
Blankenship said Tuesday that he “didn’t get it done” and “failed West Virginians,” but he warned that “the Republican Party needs to be careful about being hijacked.”
Establishment Republicans and Trump warned voters not to back the former coal executive who spent time in federal prison for his role in a 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 miners.
Blankenship told a group of supporters that he still believes he was railroaded and mistreated by federal prosecutors.
