Election day is here in West Virginia, where Republicans have grown increasingly alarmed by ex-coal executive and former prisoner Don Blankenship’s rise in the…
Election day is here in West Virginia, where Republicans have grown increasingly alarmed by ex-coal executive and former prisoner Don Blankenship’s rise in the final days leading up to Tuesday’s primary.
Blankenship, who spent a year in prison for violating mine safety standards after a mine explosion killed 29 people, has seen a late surge, with a couple of internal GOP polls showing him narrowly in the lead. But Republicans fear a Blankenship primary win would doom their chances against Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), a top GOP target in November.
ADVERTISEMENT Republicans are hoping that either GOP Rep. Evan Jenkins or state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) can pull off a win against Blankenship.
Dems spend heavily for preferred Republican nominee
Updated at 7:00 p.m.
As Republicans sounded the alarm about Blankenship’s perceived electability issues, a Democratic outside group went out of its way to beat his opponents down.
The Democratic group Duty and Country PAC said it planned to attack both Jenkins and Morrisey, but the spending told a different story.
The group spent almost $2 million in attacks on Jenkins, but less than $50,000 on attacking Morrisey, according to Federal Election Commission data culled by Open Secrets — a clear sign that Democrats saw Jenkins as the bigger threat to Manchin.
Jenkins seized on the spending disparity on the campaign trail in the hopes of bringing Republicans onto his side. But it remains to be seen whether he found a way to play that to his advantage. And Washington Republicans sought to keep pace with an outside group of their own that targeted Blankenship — the Mountain Families PAC spent about $1.3 million against the former coal baron over the course of the campaign.
Interestingly, Duty and Country’s treasurer, Booth Goodwin, is no stranger to Blankenship. Goodwin was the U. S. Attorney who prosecuted Blankenship on the misdemeanor mine safety charge that put him in prison for one year.
Blankenship could challenge GOP Senate hopes
Updated at 6:00 p.m.
President Trump won the deep-red state by more than 40 points in 2016. But many national Republicans believe a winnable seat will be at risk if Blankenship wins the nomination.
Trump made an eleventh-hour plea for voters to back either Jenkins or Morrisey.
Blankenship’s anti-establishment rhetoric has put him at odds with the party leadership, especially Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Blankenship has repeatedly gone after McConnell, calling him “Cocaine Mitch” and making racially tinged comments about his family.
Polls in West Virginia close at 7:30 p.m. EST. The Hill will be providing live updates on the high-stakes primary as results roll in. Other closely watched primaries are happening tonight in Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina. Read our story here on the seven primaries to watch on Tuesday.
