Friend of Alaska, Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin won’t run for reelection, but may be in running for president

By
Suzanne Downing
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33

West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin, one of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s strongest allies in the U.S. Senate, will not run for reelection in 2024. The deeply Republican state will most likely elect a Republican to the seat next year, adding one more voice to the conservative side of the aisle. The current balance is 51 Democrat, 49 Republican.

Manchin has been, in a view shared by many observers, the Democrats’ version of Sen. Murkowski. While Murkowski is nearly a Democrat in many of her votes and has been known as the definition of “Republican in Name Only,” Manchin has been nearly a Republican, supporting oil and gas in Alaska, much to the frustration of his party. Both are unreliable votes for their respective teams, but are best of friends in the Senate.

But Manchin may not be done. On social media on Thursday he said he would begin to travel the country and “see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle.” Manchin may be working on a run for president in a third-party. He has been aligned with the No Labels Party.

Democrats have 23 seats on the ballot in 2024, many in red-leaning states, such as Ohio and Montana. They face a difficult challenge keeping control of the Senate after next year’s election.

No Labels Party gains access to 2024 ballot in Alaska and nine other states

33 COMMENTS

  1. Few people in all of Congress have been more anti-Alaska than Lisa, this is a bit off. Good riddance to any of her DC pals.

  2. The Democrats just love Lisa. She is their favorite Rino
    They know they can always count on her to strangle Alaskan businesses in exchange for a dance with Joe at the after hours club with some hair sniffing pleasure.

    • Alaskans just love Lisa. She is their favorite RINO. They know they can always count on her to bring them free hand-outs from Washington DC. Most jobs in Alaska are cushy government positions with only an illusion of purpose. Even most construction jobs depend upon government spending. Alaska seems to be the most communist of all states where everyone depends upon government for everything. Pathetic.

  3. Hopefully we can soon replace Daddy’s Little Girl with an actual conservative…or, at least, a Republican. Big Frank sure screwed Alaska when he put his little princess in the seat he vacated. Showed his true colors though. At least Lisa didn’t need to earn a living as a lawyer…the bar was a struggle for her limited intellect.

    • Yes, we can blame the raging nepotism of Big Frank for installing his little princess in his vacated senate seat, but I much more blame all the idiot Alaskans who then voted her into office, and who have kept voting her into office.

      “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

    • PJ: How can you expect to replace Lisa with a ‘conservative’? Just have a quick look at what the Republicans managed to replace Don Young With…..

  5. If Manchin runs as a third party candidate does he take more votes from the D’s or the R’s? He might actually get the most votes since the options are less than ideal.

    • Truth be told, Manchin might be a better candidate than Biden or Trump. He clearly has Idea’s I cannot agree with but, he is NOT SENILE and he is NOT A MEGALOMANIAC.

  7. The current senate balance is 51 Democrat, 49 Republican. The issue is 45+ of the “Republicans” are allied with the Democrats. There is no meaningful daylight between the parties. They all feed from the same trough with the swine. Our dear leader and senator Lisa exemplifies the Uniparty attributes of utter incompetence, corruption and disdain for the common citizens.

    • I think I understand your frustration but would suggest some differences. The big problems come from the fourteen Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee and a few others. Murkowski is one of the fourteen. These folks, due to their position, are able to skim off what they consider to be “goodies” for their states. (I think that many of these “goodies” provide very little value to Alaska but will save that discussion for another time). The fourteen, along with other Republicans that support them, will vote for most of the big appropriations bills that explode the debt. Federal bureaucrats and the Deep State love the large continuing resolutions because of the massive spending levels and the power they bring. The best hope is that the Republicans in the House of Representatives can hold together to pass individual appropriations bills to set new, lower spending levels. But even if that happens, Murkowski and the appropriators will try to get their rather meaningless earmarks to please special interests.

  8. I don’t know how many more Daddy Joe jokes I can take. All along, I thought it was only me. At least that’s what Nancy always said.

  9. There are probably some negatives with Manchin but I will vote for him over Biden and Trump. Biden and Trump are the two worst presidential candidates in the history of the republic.

  10. President Donald J Trump and his family and associates are extremely favorable to the interests of Alaskans and their businesses. Unfortunately strange democrats are against these friendships flourishing.

    • Like former President Trump taking Pebble off the table because Don Jr. like to hunt in the region? So ultra-high-end hunting lodges can continue to cater to the elites? That sort of favorability to Alaska is what you support?

      • Thank you for posing the question. I’ll be waiting for the explanation as to how Trump’s shanking of Pebble is good for Alaska as well.

    • He rolled back EPA regulations democrats love that robs private wealth. Donald J Trump opened ANWAR and encouraged safe extra tion of the cleanest crude in the world is remains very valuable and the wealth would have distributed into the pfd. oh well.

      • Any comment on Trump and Pebble? Please stop the misdirection. When drilled down, Trump is basically just as elitist and swampy as many people from the Northeast. They are “friends” of Alaska when it suits their purposes.

  11. Manchin like Murkowski probably had to be their way representing the type of states they representing. I seeing Constituents make the leaders into whatever who serves them. Alaskans been spoon fed government money and we been allowed to be codependents we’d not appreciate anyone better than a moderate or liberal. I understand at the start if statehood the state was young and still was young through the sixties, seventies, and eighties with it needing government money, but it was no excuse for past leadership to allow generations Alaskans continue that dependency. Alaskans ought to be more fair to Murkowski including being more fair to other leaders as Dunleavy and Sullivan, they reflect is. The ones who are needing changing is Alaskans.

  12. Manchin like Murkowski probably had to be their way representing the type of states they representing. I seeing Constituents make the leaders into the character to serve them. Alaskans been spoon fed government money and we been allowed to be codependents we’d not appreciate anyone better than a moderate or liberal. I understand at the start of statehood the state was young and still was young through the sixties, seventies, and eighties with it needing government money, but it was no excuse for past leadership to allow generations Alaskans continue that dependency. Alaskans ought to be more fair to Murkowski including being more fair to other leaders as Dunleavy and Sullivan, they reflect us, they hold themselves accountable to the voting public’s emotional whims and impulses, opinions and protests, and fears and wants. An ignorant public don’t understand fairness when they don’t understand personal accountability and citizen responsibility, The ones who are needing changing is Alaskans.

  13. Senator Manchin is anti-Second Amendment, favoring national gun registration, which Democrats call universal background checks. Manchin’s family has become billionaires because of special White House and Congressional protection of a drug cartel.

    Our congressional delegation is trying to re-open the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act, giving millions of dollars and over 100,000 acres of Tongass National Forest to a few hundred people who claim to have been left out of the 1971 act. But no one who was 1/4 or more Alaska Native, or claimed to be was left out back then. Manchin is the key Senator for this legislation to proceed, so look for out delegation to give him dollars and anything else he wants.

  14. Don’t read too much into this. He’s a Senator out of touch with his constituents.

    And the left hates him.

    He’s probably a man who read the tea leaves and said screw it.

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