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He may have shot a bullet through the Democratic agenda on the campaign trail, but newly elected Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has so far been faithful to his party.In the first vote called during in the lame duck session, Manchin, who was sworn in Monday, decided to support the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that aims to ensure pay equity in the workplace.Democrats backed the bill along party lines, with 58 voting in favor of it. But it failed to get the 60 votes needed to bring it to the Senate floor for consideration.It’s no surprise that Manchin backed the...

Not only are Wisconsin Republicans thrilled at the prospect of unseating 18-year incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold (D) this cycle, they are also hoping to achieve the biggest statewide GOP shift in the country, at every level of government. Democrats currently control just about every aspect of Wisconsin politics — the governorship, both houses of the state legislature, five out of eight House seats, and both Senate seats. Not for long. Slim Democratic majorities in the State Senate (18 D, 15 R) and State Assembly (50 D, 45 R) are widely expected to flip to the Republicans, propelled by the larger...

"Since he is filling Byrds seat, he will vote with the Pubbies at least until 2012, when he will have to run again"

SHINNSTON, W.Va. — The day after Sarah Palin stumped for his Republican opponent, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said he and the former Alaska governor are “friends.” “We get along; we’re friends,” said Manchin. “Sarah, Todd, and the entire family was always very nice at all of our National Governors Association meetings, and we worked well together.” Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44459.html#ixzz140c9SFuA

The Senate contest in West Virginia is between Joe Manchin's popularity and Barack Obama's unpopularity and in the end it looks as though Manchin's popularity will win out. Manchin leads John Raese 51-46 in PPP's final look at the race. Manchin is the most popular politician we've polled on anywhere in the country this year and it's by a wide margin. On this final poll his approval rating hit the 70% mark with only 22% disapproving of him. Usually you would expect someone with those kinds of numbers to have an easy time of it but Manchin's been hampered by...

CHARLES TOWN - From the Ohio River to the Eastern Panhandle, West Virginians are fed up. They're disappointed in their politicians and disgusted with how they're behaving. They're frustrated their taxes helped fund bailouts they'd never get. They're tired of career politicians, yet wary of those who want to replace them. But that anger makes them unpredictable: Interviews with dozens of would-be voters from Parkersburg to Charles Town suggest that many are just as likely to cast a protest vote on Election Day as they are to stay home. "We need some Americans, instead of Democrats and Republicans,'' says Ed...

Republican John Raese says former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be joining rocker Ted Nugent at a weekend rally in Charleston for his U.S. Senate campaign. Raese spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said both Palin and her husband will be at the Saturday afternoon event, slated for Haddad Riverfront Park...

Can anyone tell me what the heck is going on in the Senate Race in West Virginia? It was a given a few weeks ago that Raese would win and we could put the seat held by Robert Byrd for a thousand years, in the GOP column on Election Night. Now, Manchin is up 4 points in the latest Rasmussen Poll. What happened? Is there a Freeper on here who is convinced that Raese will still win this thing?

Democratic Governor Joe Manchin has been in overdrive in recent days to distance himself from President Obama and congressional Democrats, and now he’s edged back into a three-point advantage in West Virginia’s U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely West Virginia Voters finds Manchin with 49% support to Republican John Raese’s 46%. Two percent (2%) like another candidate in the race, while four percent (4%) remain undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) This is the first time Manchin’s had any edge in the polling since mid-September, and the race now moves from Leans Republican...

A federal investigation into West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin’s administration has taken a disturbing turn for his Democratic supporters: agents reportedly have subpoenaed the director of the state Aviation Division, along with flight logs and records for official government aircraft. The news comes just after federal prosecutors privately asked a judge to delay the sentencing of a contractor who got a no-bid contract to redecorate Manchin’s office. And the developments are set against an ongoing government probe reportedly involving state Democratic Party chairman Larry Puccio, Manchin’s former chief of staff. It’s highly unlikely the federal investigation will be resolved before...

An ongoing federal grand jury investigation of the Manchin administration took a new turn Monday, with sources confirming that federal subpoenas were issued for the state Aviation Division director and for records maintained by the Aviation Division. The subpoenas were issued for director Keith Wood and for division flight records. Department of Justice investigators first issued subpoenas in August 2009, seeking records from the Division of Highway's Right-of-Way Division. That sparked speculation that the investigation might have something to do with then-Manchin chief of staff Larry Puccio, co-owner of Puccio and York LLC, a Fairmont-based real estate appraisal firm. The...

West Virginia Governor Declines to Endorse Reid, ObamaBy Erik Hayden October 25, 2010 12:29pm "I'll take on Washington and this administration to get the federal government off of our backs," declares West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin as he loads his rifle in a new campaign ad (video below). The Democrat, who now faces tightening poll numbers in his reelection bid, has publicly backtracked from his prior support of Obama's health care reform plan. And he has declined to endorse Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader or the president for a second term. Although Manchin is undeniably popular in his home...

A new Public Policy Polling poll shows Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin ahead of Republican senate candidate John Raese, 50 percent to 44 percent.   Manchin’s ratings for his job performance as governor continues to be high, with 69 percent approving. President Obama continues to have very low ratings, with only 31 percent approving of him. “The reason this race has remained close despite Manchin’s overwhelming popularity is that for the folks who both like Manchin and dislike Obama, accounting for 37 percent of voters in the state, the feelings toward Obama have been more influential in how they plan to...

Republican John Raese now holds a six-point lead on Democratic Governor Joe Manchin in West Virginia’s shockingly competitive U.S. Senate race. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in West Virginia finds Raese with 50% support, while the state’s highly popular governor earns just 44% of the vote. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided. These findings now move this race from a Toss-Up to Leans GOP in the Rasmussen Reports Election Senate Balance of Power rankings. Raese, a businessman and unsuccessful Senate candidate in 2006, first edged ahead of Manchin last...

Raese (R) Races Ahead in WV Senate race By Sean Trende - September 28, 2010 A week ago, Public Policy Polling (D) broke shocking news -- according to their sample, businessman and two-time candidate John Raese was leading Governor Joe Manchin in the race to replace Senator Robert Byrd. Now Rasmussen Reports confirms the PPP finding. Its latest sample of the race, taken September 27 among 500 likely voters, shows Raese leading the Governor 48 percent to 46 percent. Sixty-nine percent of West Virginia voters approve of the job Manchin is doing, but only 30 percent approve of the job...

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. – For as long as this country has existed, this charming Eastern Panhandle town has thrived, thanks initially to its abundant mineral water and its proximity to the nation’s capital. It was the country’s first official resort town. George Washington not only slept here, he bathed here. He came first as a teenage surveyor and later as president, seeking the healing effects of the medicinal springs. Yet thriving is tough in this economy. Just ask Shannon DeLaunden, who has been out of work for over a year. A health-care worker who voted for the first time in...

We've added another Vulnerable Dem to our Master List: WV-03That brings our list to 99 seats. We now have 87 Vulnerable Democrats and 12 pretty safe Republicans on out list.This weeks news:It was a pretty average week for our six "Experts" with a total of 23 upgrades to the races on the KHR Master List but the Dems managed to get just 3 of those 23.We've added the Freedom's Lighthouse to our list of Pickup Projections and they currently are predicing a 49 seat pickup.We are now listing all the Pickup Projections we can find on the Home Page at...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Democrats atop West Virginia's 2010 ballot find themselves running against, or away from, their party colleagues in Washington, D.C. The races for U.S. Senate and the state's two Democrat-held U.S. House seats have become as much about President Barack Obama and their fellow Democrats running Congress as about the candidates themselves. The same scenario has unfolded in most other states. As the economy struggles to recover, foes of Obama and such measures as the stimulus and the health care overhaul have rallied. A growing number of political analysts project Republican takeovers of one or both chambers...

In what could prove a sleeper race with national implications, some West Virginia Democrats say they are seeing signs that the state's Senate race could be turning into an unexpectedly tough and expensive battle. While popular Gov. Joe Manchin III, 63, was widely regarded by Democrats as a sure thing to fill the seat long held by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a new Rasmussen poll released this week showed his Republican challenger, Morgantown business executive John Raese, 60, gaining significant ground. With polls giving surging Republicans an outside chance of gaining the 10 Senate seats needed to reclaim the majority,...

The primaries to determine the candidates who will battle for the seat vacated by the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) are little more than a month away. But most who are watching the race believe it will be a contest between Governor Joe Manchin (D) and Republican industrialist John Raese. The latest poll shows the Governor with a significant 16 point lead (51% - 35%) so should we put this one in the Democratic win column? Not yet.