Political Wire

Justice Won’t Support GOP Senate Nominee

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West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R), who switched parties to become a Republican in early August, told a crowd of Republican lawmakers this week that he supports Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) re-election to the U.S. Senate, according to West Virginia Metro News.

Said Justice: “Joe Manchin has been a friend of mine. Now he may be a terrible person to y’all but Joe has been a friend of mine and I’m going to tell you this as straight up as I can be: Joe Manchin is becoming a very key, integral part with Donald Trump. And I’m going to take my read off of Donald Trump.”

Manchin Says He’s Not Scared of the Election

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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told the Charleston Gazette that getting re-elected doesn’t influence his votes.

Said Manchin: “I don’t give a shit, you understand? I just don’t give a shit. Don’t care if I get elected, don’t care if I get defeated, how about that. If they think because I’m up for election, that I can be wrangled into voting for shit that I don’t like and can’t explain, they’re all crazy.”

He added: “I’m not scared of an election, let’s put it that way. Elections do not bother me or scare me.”

GOP Seeks to Block Manchin from Picking Successor

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As Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) “considers a 2016 return bid for governor, Republicans hope to block West Virginia’s most prominent Democrat from handpicking his Senate successor for two years,” the AP reports.

“Should he reclaim his old job, Manchin will have served enough of his Senate term that the governor — potentially him in 2017 — could name the next senator through 2018.”

McConnell Expected to Woo King and Manchin

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Two Senate sources tell The Hill that they expect Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to reach out to Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) about joining the Senate Republican conference.

“Republicans have a 52-seat Senate majority and that could swell to 54 seats depending on the final vote tally in Alaska and a runoff in Louisiana next month. Both are solidly red states.”

About Political Wire

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.

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