(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Manchin registers as unaffiliated as deadline approaches to run as independent in November general • Florida Phoenix [1] ['Caity Coyne', 'Jackie Llanos', 'Michael Moline', 'Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- May', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline'] Date: 2024-05-31 In what is becoming an election tradition, West Virginians are again being left to wonder what longtime Democrat Joe Manchin will do politically come November as the U.S. senator on Friday announced that he has left the Democratic Party and changed his voter registration to unaffiliated. The registration change means Manchin, 76, could enter the race for either governor or senator as an independent candidate for the November general election. Manchin’s party change came just days after he pledged support for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Huntington Mayor Steve Williams in his race against the Republican nominee for the office, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. In those comments, Manchin said he would not seek office as governor. This quieted rumors that have been circulating for weeks that several Republicans, unhappy with Morrisey’s primary win, have contacted Manchin to urge him to enter the race. If he entered the race for Senate, he would be up against Gov. Jim Justice, the Republican nominee, and Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, who Manchin has endorsed in the race. “I am very appreciative of [Manchin’s] support and have no reason to believe he is interested in entering this Senate race,” Elliott said in a social media post Friday. “From my many conversations with the senator, I believe he is sincere in his desire to focus his energy on unifying the country from beyond the constraints of elected office. And I wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.” In a news release Friday, Manchin — who said in November that he would not seek another term in the Senate — said his party switch is the result of “partisan extremism.” His comments this week reflect those he’s been making for months criticizing the political divide in the United States and his goal to “unite the middle” of America. “Today, our national politics are broken and neither party is willing to compromise to find common ground,” Manchin’s statement read. “To stay true to myself and remain committed to put country before party, I have decided to register as an independent with no party affiliation and continue to fight for America’s sensible majority.” The party change was not well-regarded by the West Virginia Democratic Party. In a jeering news release, Party Chair Mike Pushkin thanked Manchin for his support of Williams two days prior. The support of an independent politician such as Manchin, the release reads, “shows the appeal Steve Williams has across the political spectrum.” “Clearly the senator thinks his new role as the head of Americans Together, an organization dedicated to bridging the divide between the two major parties, can best be served in the final 8 months of his term as an Independent,” Pushkin said. Americans Together is a political nonprofit formed last year by Manchin and his daughter, former pharmaceutical executive Heather Bresch. The organization aims to unite Americans who consider themselves to be in the middle of the two major political parties and push centrist policies. After serving as West Virginia’s governor for six years, Manchin joined the senate in 2010. He was elected to his first full term as senator in 2012 and has served there ever since. As a senator, Manchin has recently found himself in the national spotlight, often being the deciding vote in the politically split body. Democrats have lamented his lack of support on various initiatives that come down from President Joe Biden’s administration, specifically in regard to energy and tax policies. It’s not new that political rumors surround Manchin in the lead up to elections. Last year, as the 2024 primary approached, there were talks nationally that Manchin would enter the race for president as an independent. In 2020, he teased a gubernatorial bid against Justice. Justice was elected as a Democrat in 2016 — with heavy support from Manchin — before he changed his party registration to Republican in 2017 while on stage at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Huntington. If Manchin chooses to enter any statewide or federal race for the 2024 general election, he will have to start work soon to gather the signatures necessary to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate. According to the Secretary of State’s office, potential candidates not affiliated with a recognized political party must collect signatures from at least 1% of people who voted in the previous election for the seat they are seeking by Aug. 1. This story first appeared in West Virginia Watch, an affiliate, with the Phoenix, in the nonprofit States Newsroom network. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/05/31/manchin-registers-as-unaffiliated-as-deadline-approaches-to-run-as-independent-in-november-general/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/