West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice filed on Thursday to run for the US Senate, setting up a potential challenge against Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, among the most vulnerable incumbents in 2024.
The Republican governor is expected to formally announce his bid at an event later Thursday in White Sulphur Springs.
CNN has reported that party leaders are expected to close ranks behind Justice, who faces a primary against Rep. Alex Mooney, who has the backing of the influential conservative group, the Club for Growth.
Justice, a former Democrat, switched political parties in 2017, making the announcement at a rally alongside then-President Donald Trump. He has also switched parties in the past. He was previously an independent and a Republican up until 2015, when he ran for governor as a Democrat.
Manchin, another former governor who has served in the Senate since 2010, has not yet said if he plans to run for reelection in 2024. He has spent much of the past two years at the center of the action in the Democratic-controlled Senate, blocking some of Biden’s more ambitious agenda items, such as the Build Back Better Act, and standing firm against Democratic calls to gut the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation and other bills.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
Read the full article here