When this seat opened up with the death of longtime incumbent Robert Byrd, everyone figured that Governor Joe Manchin would run for the Democratic nomination to fill the rest of Byrd’s term. No one was sure whether Manchin would get a serious Republican challenger, though, because conventional wisdom held that Manchin would wallop any Republican who dared. Shelley Moore Capito declined to run, and instead a West Virginia businessman decided to become the sacrificial lamb to Manchin’s preordained victory. [...] Read the rest »
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