Cap-and-Trade Foe Manchin Wins, Cap-and-Trade Fan Perriello Loses

Two other big results for the energy/climate crowd.

First, Gov. Joe Manchin (D) is projected to beat Republican John Raese in the West Virginia Senate race. Manchin campaigned heavily against cap-and-trade. In fact, in a now-infamous campaign ad, he actually shot the House climate bill.

Second, projections indicate that Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) lost his re-election bid to his opponent, state Sen. Robert Hurt, in Virginia’s 5th district. Hurt and others in the conservative Virginia district have criticized Perriello for voting for the House cap-and-trade bill. Environmentalists, for their part, targeted Hurt in a series of advertisements that focused on his support for increased oil drilling. In the end, despite an eleventh-hour campaign stop by President Obama, Perriello couldn’t pull off the win.

So far, it’s not been a good night for Democrats who voted for cap-and-trade. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who voted for the House climate bill and helped shepherd it through the Energy and Commerce Committee, is projected to lose his re-election bid as well. But others who voted for the cap-and-trade bill are projected to win their re-election bids, including Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.)