Former coal CEO Don Blankenship is trying to win a U.S. Senate seat, this time as a Democrat
Time:2024-04-26 19:51:17 Source:worldViews(143)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Don Blankenship hasn’t had much success running for office.
He ran for the Senate as a Republican in 2018 and sought the White House in 2020 as a third party candidate. He lost badly both times but is on the ballot again in 2024, this time as a Democrat seeking the Senate seat being vacated by Joe Manchin.
Blankenship has plenty of baggage heading into the May 14 Democratic primary. Beyond his history of political losses, he’s perhaps best known in this coal-producing state as the former chief executive of Massey Energy who spent a year in federal prison for conspiring to violate mine safety laws before an explosion at his West Virginia coal mine killed 29 men in 2010.
With their threadbare Senate majority on the line in this year’s elections, Democrats are already pessimistic about their chances in West Virginia, where Manchin was the rare member of their party to find success in a state that Republican former President Donald Trump carried by nearly 39 percentage points in 2020. But a Blankenship victory in the primary could prove especially problematic for the party, leaving Democrats with an unpopular candidate with a complicated past in business and politics.
You may also like
- Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry share lead in team event at TPC of Louisiana
- Flames beat NHL
- Millie Bobby Brown, 20, goes make
- Netanyahu says Hamas No. 4 killed
- QB Jaden Rashada transfers to Georgia after leaving Arizona State
- Rosie Huntington
- As Ben Affleck's daughter comes out as 'Fin', why are so many A
- Hannah Waddingham reflects on end of Ted Lasso and friendship with Jason Sudeikis
- Colts take first defensive player of NFL draft, UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu at No. 15