Manchin Announces Senate Run

We all knew it was coming, but now it’s official — West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) is running in his state’s special Senate election.

He announced his campaign run this morning, a little more than 13 hours after signing the bill that actually declared the election. His run was widely expected for weeks, as he was long known to have been interested in running for the late Sen. Robert Byrd’s seat when it became vacant.

“If I am so fortunate and honored to have the support of the people of West Virginia,” Manchin said during his campaign announcement. “I can’t fill [Byrd's] shoes. I can only hope to follow his footsteps and serve the people of West Virginia as best I can.”

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R) will also likely be a candidate for the seat — the deal legislators struck yesterday to allow the election to take place included an amendment allowing candidates for other offices to also run in the Senate race. Capito had previously appeared reluctant to run for the seat because she was concerned it would mean giving up her House re-election bid. She is expected to announce her intentions by the end of the week.

We will get a full sense of who is running in the race — if anyone decides to challenge Manchin or Capito in their parties’ Aug. 28 special primaries — by 5 p.m. Friday, when the filing period for this race closes.

Whoever wins the race will take over the seat soon after the Nov. 2 election. Until then, former Manchin general counsel Carte Goodwin (D) will fill the seat. He will be sworn in at 2:15 p.m. today.