West Virginia 2018 Election: Manchin Wins, GOP Sweeps House Races

CHARLESTON, WV — Democrats let out a collective sigh of relief Tuesday night when it was announced that incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III had defeated Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. The Associated Press called the race Tuesday night, and Manchin appeared to secure about 50 percent of the vote to Morrisey's 46 percent. But that would be the extent of the so-called "blue wave." Republicans won all three West Virginia seats in the U.S House races and voters decided to amend the constitution to say a woman's right to abortion isn't protected in the state.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. David McKinley defeated Democratic challenger Kendra Fershee with 63 percent of the vote. Republican U.S. Reps. Alex Mooney and state Delegate Carol Miller also won their House races, garnering 54 and 56 percent of the vote, respectively.

There were some polling problems early on that forced voters to pivot. Severe weather overnight caused power outages in several counties and a few precincts were consolidated for a short time. Things returned to normal shortly after noon.

U.S. Senate

Thirty five Senate seats were up for grabs on Tuesday and one of them was in West Virginia. Manchin defeated Morrisey and libertarian Rusty Hollen, a petroleum engineer, in a state that voted for Republican President Donald Trump by a massive margin.

While CNN listed Manchin's seat as one that was most likely to flip, FiveThirtyEight gave Manchin an 86.5 percent chance to win. According to RealClearPolitics, Manchin was well ahead in the polls as well, leading Morrisey by an average of 8.7 points, though the last two polls had his lead at just 5 points.

Furthermore, The Cook Political Report said the race would likely lean Democratic, meaning the election was expected to be competitive but that Manchin had the advantage.

On The Issues

Manchin

Manchin writes on his website that he believes a strong education is the building block for success. He said he has worked on legislation that would simplify student loan repayments. He also believes that all Americans deserve access to quality, affordable health care and opposed GOP efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare.

When it comes to energy, Manchin has said he believes it's important for America to become energy independent and to use all domestic resources — including coal and natural gas — to do that.

Morrisey

On his campaign website, Morrisey touts his success in battling the state's drug abuse epidemic. He said he supports term limits for Congressional lawmakers and would support an amendment to the constitution to ensure as such.

Morrisey supports the GOP tax cuts and would seek to repeal many federal regulations that he believes are "burdensome" on businesses. He is also staunchly anti-abortion and supports building a U.S.-Mexico border wall, as well as a variety of other measures aimed at curbing illegal immigration.

U.S. House

All three of West Virginia's U.S. House seats were up for grabs, but experts didn't expect any of them would be competitive. And that was true for the most part.

District 1

Incumbent U.S. Rep. David McKinley, who has held the seat since 2011, defeated Democrat Kendra Fershee on Tuesday. The race was not expected to be close. According to The Cook Partisan Voter Index, the deep-red district went Republican in the last two presidential elections — by a wide margin — and was considered of the safest Republican seats in the country.

FiveThirtyEight all but handed the race to McKinley, giving him a 99.9 percent chance of winning.

District 2

Similarly, the state's deep red 2nd Congressional district was also not likely to be close. Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Alexander Mooney, who has held the seat since 2014, defeated Democrat Talley Sergent with 54 percent of the vote.

Sergent faced long odds from the beginning, as the district went Republican in each of the last two presidential elections and was considered one of the safest Republican seats in the country.

FiveThirtyEight gave Mooney a 98 percent chance to win.

District 3

In the state's 3rd Congressional District, Republican state Delegate Carol Miller defeated Democratic state Sen. Richard Ojeda in what was seen as the Democrats' best shot at flipping a House seat from red to blue in West Virginia this year. That turned out not to be the case, with Miller defeating Ojeda with 56 percent of the vote.

FiveThirtyEight was bullish on Miller, giving her a 91 percent chance to win.

The district voted for Trump by 50 points and The Cook Political Report said the race leaned Republican. According to the Cook Partisan Voter Index, the 3rd District voted for a Republican in each of the last two presidential elections by a large margin.

State Supreme Court

Following the resignations of disgraced Justices Menis Ketchum and Robin Davis, former Republican U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and former House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead were elected to keep their seats on the state Supreme Court. They will finish out the unexpired terms of the former justices.

According to Ballotpedia, Ketchum and Davis resigned amid an investigation into possible misuse of $360,000 in state money. Ketchum resigned shortly after state lawmakers convened a special session to discuss removing a justice. Davis resigned a day after the state House of Delegates voted to begin impeachment proceedings on the remaining justices.

Amendments

Amendment 1, No Right to Abortion in Constitution Measure

Amendment 1 narrowly passed with about 52 percent of the vote. It will amend the state Constitution to say nothing secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion. Should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, this amendment ensures the constitution can't be used to protect abortions.

Amendment 2, Legislative Authority over Budgeting for State Judiciary Amendment

Amendment 2 also passed, but by a much larger margin. This amendment changes the state constitution to allow the legislature to reduce the budget of the state judiciary by up to 15 percent every year.

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