Roll Call: Patrick Morrisey Wins West Virginia GOP Senate Primary
State attorney general will face Joe Manchin in November
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has won the Republican nomination to take on Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III in November in what’s likely to be one of the most closely watched races in the country.
He took 35 percent of the vote in a six-way GOP primary field, besting Rep. Evan Jenkins and former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship who finished with 29 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
The defeat of Blankenship, a former convict, is a win for national Republicans who spent upward of a million dollars attacking him.
Trump went as far as to tweet against Blankenship on Monday, saying he’d be unelectable in November and asking voters to “remember Alabama,” a reference to the Senate special election last December when Democrat Doug Jones upset controversial GOP nominee Roy Moore.
With the help of a super PAC supporting him, Morrisey hammered Jenkins throughout the campaign, accusing him of being a liberal. Meanwhile, Jenkins was also hit by national Democrats through a super PAC called Duty and Country.
In the final days of the race, Morrisey turned his attention to Blankenship, who had seen a late surge in internal polling after last week’s Fox News debate. Morrisey released robocalls and a digital ad attacking the former coal executive for his role in a 2010 mine explosion in southern West Virginia and for serving time in prison in Nevada. He also attacked him for not filing his personal financial disclosure report, threatening to call Blankenship’s parole officer. (His parole ends Tuesday.)