WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced Nov. 9 he will not seek reelection to the Senate next year, which will leave the upper chamber without its last pro-life Democrat and increases the possibility that Republicans will pick up his West Virginia seat in the 2024 election.
In a video statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Manchin said, “After months of deliberation and long conversation with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I’ve accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia.”
“I’ve made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for reelection to the United States Senate,” Manchin said.
Key Democratic critic
Manchin, who is Catholic, considers himself personally anti-abortion but backed the legal standard set by Roe v. Wade. He sometimes broke ranks with his party to oppose some of the measures on abortion it sought to pass, including the Women’s Health Protection Act last year, which he said went beyond Roe.
Manchin also was a key Democratic critic, alongside Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., of removing the Senate’s filibuster rule. Both senators argued the rule, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation, should remain in place, rather than allowing a simple majority to suffice.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report had ranked West Virginia’s Senate election next year as a toss-up. But Manchin’s departure will make it more difficult for Democrats to retain control of the seat. Manchin, 76, was seen by some metrics as the upper chamber’s most vulnerable Democrat in the 2024 election cycle, where his own brand of a middle-of-the-road Democrat was coming into contrast with an increasingly red West Virginia.
But Manchin said in his announcement that, although his willingness to reach across the aisle occasionally “has landed me in hot water,” that effort was “well worth it.”
Washington is failing to address America’s challenges
“Every incentive in Washington is designed to make our politics extreme,” Manchin said. “The growing divide between Democrats and Republicans is paralyzing Congress and worsening our nation’s problems. The majority of Americans are just plain worn out. Our economy is not working for many Americans, from the rising cost of food and fuel and everything in between.
“We have a border crisis with illegal drugs entering our country and killing Americans every day,” he continued. “Our national debt is out of control. And Americans don’t feel safe even in their own communities. We are providing critical aid to two of our allies, fighting wars for their survival, and we must prevent being pulled into a major war ourselves.”
“These are not Republican or Democratic challenges, these are American challenges,” he added. “They affect every one of us and we need to face them together.”
Manchin said he intends to travel the country and see “if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” which could signal his interest in remaining in public life or future political ambitions.
“I know our country isn’t as divided as Washington wants us to believe,” Manchin said. “We share common values and family, freedom, democracy, dignity, and I believe that together we can overcome any challenge.”
Will Manchin’s seat flip?
Republican candidates for West Virginia’s U.S. Senate race in 2024 include the state’s incumbent governor, Jim Justice, and Rep. Alex Mooney.
Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, said in a statement provided to OSV News that “we are deeply appreciative of Senator Joe Manchin’s longstanding leadership in the pro-life democratic movement.”
“It is the end of an era of Democratic dominance in what should be a solid blue state,” Day said. “Working men and women flocked to the Democratic Party because of our historic advocacy for the vulnerable and those in need. He reflected his state and cared about the people of West Virginia. It will be a true loss for the people of West Virginia.”
Day said the Democratic Party “should be looking at West Virginia to gain an understanding of how it went from solid blue to solid red in just over a decade and how to win back the blue-collar workers in that state.”
