West Virginia Senate: Joe Manchin Gets Go-Ahead For November Special Election

(AP) -West Virginia's attorney general says Gov. Joe Manchin can put the late Robert C. Byrd's Senate seat on the ballot this November.

Manchin requested a legal opinion from Attorney General Darrell McGraw, who issued it Thursday.

Manchin says he doesn't want voters to wait until 2012, when Byrd would have faced re-election.

The iconic Democrat died last week after more than a half-century in the Senate. The 92-year-old had just over 30 months left in his term.

Manchin may now call a special legislative session to settle details such as candidate filing and party nomination deadlines.

Manchin will appoint someone to fill the vacancy in the meantime. The Democrat says he may run for Byrd's seat, but won't have himself appointed.

Comments

[BEHM777]

01:43 PM on 07/09/2010

Joe Manchin has made the correct calculation, I think. If he runs, he will probably win Byrd's seat. He is coming out of this looking and smelling like a rose or, rather a rhododendron.

[SPQR1052]

01:31 PM on 07/09/2010

Gov. Joe Manchin is smart and an acceptable replacement. The man is shrewd and knows how to get things done. Watch him. If he tosses his hat in eventhough he might not be a total Progressive or Liberal he's whatthe DEMS need to carry WV.

[Right One]

06:37 PM on 07/24/2010

That's right, its all about power, not convictions, right?

[softvoice]

10:37 AM on 07/09/2010

May Senator Byrd rest in peace. I do hope that all elected officials will take their age into consideration, when they go for re-election over and over again. We must pass off to the next generation and stop trying to hold on for ever. If someone knows they are in bad health or simply getting on in years, they really need to step aside and let someone else take over.

[apoyo]

10:08 AM on 07/09/2010

Seems to me this should have been taken care when Byrd became too frail to function. Is the senate a lifetime appointment as well?

[RMorr2002]

08:03 AM on 07/09/2010

Serious question here....WV is a coal state. Obama and the Dems want to shut down the coal industry. Why would anyone in their right mind vote for a Dem in WV??

[zest]

08:22 AM on 07/09/2010

Perhaps, to save their environment.

[carhac66]

08:56 AM on 07/09/2010

the president & dem in congress put $$ into research to make it burn cleaner, not shut it down. getting off dirty fuel or making them cleaner is the goal.

[MissCupcake]

11:26 PM on 07/08/2010

This could be a tough fight for us WV Dems. if Shelley Moore Capito enters the race.

[Stella2]

11:55 PM on 07/08/2010

Either way it would go Manchin or Moore it will never be as it was for WV. Neither has the passion or the love for the state as Sen. Byrd had. It is truly a sad time for WV.

[farginbastidge]

10:34 AM on 07/09/2010

Ms Capito is not particularly popular in my neck of the woods.

[jazzboy]

10:40 PM on 07/08/2010

What great news for Democrats! On Nov. 2, 2010, the year pundits and summer polls suggest that Dems are expected to lose many key Senate seats, here comes an unanticipated blessing. The national news anchors will stand in front of their electronic tote boards showing each parties' wins and losses, and report: "Manchin wins in WV." Dems get this additional bonus in their plus column.

And if Dems pick up Republican seats in Ohio (likely), New Hampshire (possible), Kentucky (iffy) and Florida (a big possibility if non-incumbent, independent Greene wins the Dem Primary and can easily afford a major, multi-million dollar media campaign against the two Republicans now touched by the on-going FL GOP scandals), then the expected debacle will not come to pass. Admittedly, this is wishful thinking but I love to dream... But my more pragmatic point is that perception is half the battle and a Manchin victory adds to that perception that Dems can win big.

So what if he is not a flaming liberal? Almost any Dem is better than any teabagger-backed conservative Republican. Remember, WV has voted Republican in three of the last five Presidential contests. Polls suggest Obama will be a tough sell in 2012. But when popular Manchin is up for reelection, a massive Dem vote for him could provide coattails for Obama -- or at the least, tying up needed GOP resources required in other states.

[go23]

11:48 PM on 07/08/2010

He is a tough sell because he hates coal. The people will not be fooled by obama the poser this time around.

[zest]

08:23 AM on 07/09/2010

He hates dirty coal.

[carhac66]

09:04 AM on 07/09/2010

West Virginia went for McCain by 13%. You don't know what you are talking about! The only poser is you commenting without any facts.

[Bill in Michigan]

10:10 AM on 07/09/2010

Wishful thinking. If Manchin puts the seat up for election this fall, it is another Democratic seat at risk. If he appoints someone through 2012, the seat is safe until then.

[mandinka]

10:09 PM on 07/08/2010

That was a tough decision it just happens to be the law. Once the gov understood he could run then he was all for following the WVA law

[Catch 22]

09:47 PM on 07/08/2010

To quote Lee Atwater, "The bigger the lie, the louder you yell it."

[jazzboy]

11:03 PM on 07/08/2010

Excuse me, but what "lie" are you referring to in this article?

[Catch 22]

12:18 PM on 07/09/2010

Sorry, wrong thread.

[Vernie31]

08:59 PM on 07/08/2010

Better de gravy dan no grease ’tall. - Uncle Remus

[beerguy]

08:33 PM on 07/08/2010

Another seat up for grabs

[Jazzyways76]

07:47 PM on 07/08/2010

My msg to the Gov: http://www.wvgov.org/sec.aspx?ID=36. Everyon should send one too!!
Hurry up and pick someone the fill the emptied by the loss of the late Sen. Bryd already. I lost my job 5 months ago. I've been looking for work, going to classes at night to gain more training and working on a getting a side business up and running to supplement my income. I am less than a month a way to lossing my unemploymemt benifits and a month behind on my car note. We know we can blame the democats for not doing anything before this too. But can you HURRY UP and appoint someone already. You have your answer on the special election. You can worry about your political future later. You no matter what still have a job for now to do for the state. I don't and I need my benifits until I find work. Do you want this country to go in to a depression??? WHAT ELSE ARE YOU WAITING FOR???? HURRY IT UP ALREADY!!!!!

[MnCatie]

06:44 PM on 07/08/2010

I know people don't want a blue dog. I don't know West Virginia politics at all, but if this guy wants to run for the seat, he should indeed appoint someone quickly, but if he's not careful about who he picks, he might anger voters who could decide to punish him in November.

[carbolaw]

06:21 PM on 07/08/2010

I am not too hopeful here. I have lived in West Virginia for most of the past 10 years and in my opinions Manchin like many of the Dems in this state is a DINO. He likes to call himself a centrist, but one of his very first steps in office was to take a hard line against injured workers by privatizing the workers' comp system. He has not even considered an EO to grant state workers collective bargaining rights as has been done by many Dem governors in other states, and he is a big friend of big coal. Here is just one article that might give you some insight into his political positions. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_687877.html

[Enigma2008]

07:00 PM on 07/08/2010

Is there another Democrat who could win there?

[carbolaw]

07:07 PM on 07/08/2010

Honestly I do not know. I was shocked that a complete DINO, Oliverio beat out Allen Mollohan, but then the Repubs sent out brochures in WV telling voters Kerry wanted to ban the bible because they believed the voters would be easily swayed. I was in NY at the time, but I believe Bush won the state. Manchin may indeed be the best option available, but I would not be surprised to see little difference between him and Ben Nelson or at a minimum Blanche Lincoln.

[mandinka]

10:11 PM on 07/08/2010

WVA is full of crooks so its really no big deal for Dems to win again

[tjconkster]

08:34 PM on 07/08/2010

He's also pro big coal and not a fan of the working man among other things...Right? I'm asking because I would like to learn more about him...

[carbolaw]

09:02 PM on 07/08/2010

That would be my take, but I am not an expert on Joe Manchin. I can tell you that his move to privatize the workers comp system was a direct attack on injured workers and that he stressed opening up WV for business by doing so on the backs of the workers. I have worked in higher ed during much of my time here and I never saw him offer anything meaningful to a system that is in desperate need of help. He also never pushed for CB rights for state workers and I can tell you the staff people at the Universities here are practically making poverty level wages while paying more and more for health care. I also know he flew in on Massey's private jet during the latest mining disaster and is opposed to the environmental groups that are opposing mountain top removal. Finally, I know that I have simply not heard much from him in general. In WV Manchin is a big political name and I think much of his popularity has come from that.

[DocSyracuse]

09:35 PM on 07/08/2010

Does an ant-coal candidate stand a chance? This is West Virginia we're talking about.

[Tom Payned]

05:58 PM on 07/08/2010

Appoint someone immediately. If he wants to run for the office himself, have him place a care taker with no political ambition in the seat until the November election. The loss of Byrd and his seat being vacant has allowed the Rethugs to block extending unemployment benefits which I understand is less than .01% of the budget.

The rethugs finally discovering fiscal restraint are hypocrites. They had no problem bailing out the Banks, then in the current so called reform bill of the financial industry, allowed the Brown amendment which removed the banks' obligation to use 20 billion dollars for a bailout fund, and instead are having the taxpayers cover it with 20 billion from the Tarp fund.

Where are the people's champions?

Fill the seat now.