Former coal executive Don Blankenship announced he will make a 2020 White House bid as a Constitution Party candidate, The Hill reports.
Said Blankenship: “President Trump means well, but he simply cannot get it done because he is too busy mending his self-inflicted wounds and tripping over his ego.”
“The West Virginia Supreme Court denied former coal company executive Don Blankenship’s bid to get on the ballot this November as a Constitution Party candidate after he lost the Republican primary earlier this year,” Politico reports.
“Blankenship’s effort could have shaken up the battleground race between Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican nominee, siphoning critical votes from Morrisey as he seeks to oust the incumbent.”
Don Blankenship (R), who lost his GOP Senate primary bid in West Virginia this week, “is actively plotting how to undercut” Patrick Morrisey’s (R) Senate candidacy, The Hill reports.
Said adviser Greg Thomas: “He’s not going to sit back and let a corrupt carpetbagger highjack our party.”
For members: Manchin Will Be Tougher to Beat Than Republicans Think
West Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Don Blankenship (R) questioned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) marriage to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, suggesting the Senate leader faced a conflict of interest in foreign relations since Chao’s father is “a wealthy Chinaperson,” the New York Times reports.
He added that “there’s a lot of connections to some of the brass, if you will, in China.”
Said Blankenship: “I read in books that people think he’s soft on China.”
“A brewing fight between West Virginia GOP Senate candidate Don Blankenship and national Republicans spilled into the open Monday when the coal baron compared Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell to Russians interfering in his state’s election,” Politico reports.
Said Blankenship” “McConnell should not be in the U.S. Senate, let alone be the Republican Majority Leader. He is a Swamp captain.”
He added: “The Russians and McConnell should both stop interfering with elections outside their jurisdictions. West Virginians are aware that McConnell cannot vote in their election. They want him to mind his own business and do his job. A job he has not done now for over 30 years. Balance the budget Mitch and stay out of West Virginia.”
“Most of us should be in jail for the things we do. We just haven’t been caught. No one’s gone after us.”
— West Virginia GOP county chairwoman Becky Deitch, quoted by Politico, explaining why she supports Don Blankenship’s (R) U.S. Senate bid even though he went to prison for the deaths of 29 coal miners.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.