Manchin passes on Senate re-election bid, setting up likely Republican gain

Sen. Joe Manchin announced Thursday that he wil not vie for re-election next year, making Republicans the favorites to pick up another seat in the upper chamber of Congress.

Manchin (D-WV), a perennial thorn in the side of the Biden administration, would have likely faced a fierce battle against popular Republican Gov. Jim Justice had he decided to run.

“I’ve made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for reelection to the United States Senate,” Manchin declared in a video posted to X.

The 76-year-old senator was an increasingly isolated Democrat in a state that former President Donald Trump won by almost 30 percentage points in 2020.

Manchin’s team voiced confidence in public that he would prevail if he decided to defend his seat in the 2024 cycle, but polling generally showed him even with or behind Justice.

The West Virginian’s announcement comes weeks after another centrist senator, Mitt Romney (R-Utah), also opted not to run for re-election next year.

Romney had jokingly dubbed Manchin “Mr. President” due to his outsized influence in the 50-50 Senate during the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency.

While publicly ruminating over his Senate future, Manchin has also publicly flirting with a possible White House run. However, the point by which he can make any serious impact in the race as a candidate has likely passed.

“What I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” he said Thursday.

Manchin and Sen. Kirsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) emerged as key Senate votes after the 2020 election cycle left the parties evenly divided.

Manchin routinely rankled progressives by tanking prized legislation, including multiple trillion-dollar iterations of Biden’s Build Back Better agenda.

Last year, Manchin agreed to support the dramatically pared back $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act, the implementation of which he has since criticized.

Republicans have high hopes of regaining the Senate majority in 2024 after four years out of power. Democrats currently hold a 51-49 edge, but have to defend 23 seats this cycle — Republicans have to protect just 11.

Manchin, who lives on a boat docked outside of Washington, DC, recounted inspiration he drew from former President John F. Kennedy’s famous line: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

He recalled his father telling him that politics is “bad business” and that he should stay out of it.

“I didn’t disagree that often with my father. At that time I did,” Manchin recalled. “My dad said that he would support me running if I made a vow to serve all the people, friend or foe, and not just myself.”

“That promise made to my dad all these years ago, has been my guiding light. I’ve never cared about where good ideas came from. And I never blame one side for creating a problem, nor believe that only one side could fix them.”

Manchin concluded his remarks by arguing that “America is at her best” when “we get things done by putting country before party, working across the aisle.”