(FiveNation.com)- Joe Manchin will face an opponent in 2024.
According to reports, Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) has announced his candidacy for the 2024 election to oust Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).
Mooney declared his challenge to the senator during a Tuesday morning radio broadcast on MetroNews Talkline. Fox News reports that in 2015, Mooney became the first Hispanic congressman to represent West Virginia. Before his service in Congress, he served as the chairman of the Maryland Republican Party.
Reports revealed that Manchin faced his most significant struggle in 2018 when he won by a margin of barely three percent. He could face a tight contest from Mooney as West Virginia becomes more Republican.
In the past two years, the centrist Democrat has faced criticism from inside his own party for being a swing vote in the 50-50 Senate.
According to reports, Manchin, who describes himself as pro-life, voted against his party’s efforts to repeal the almost 50-year-old Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds to finance abortions. Manchin stated that he was dismayed by the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and would vote to codify abortion rights.
In recent election cycles, West Virginia has become a Republican bastion. In 2000, Al Gore won 46% of the state. However, in 2020, Joe Biden won only 30% of the state. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican who received 70 percent of the vote in 2020, is the state’s other United States Senator. Since 1958, West Virginia has not had two Republican senators.
According to his official website, Mooney is the son of a Vietnam soldier and a Cuban refugee whose experiences inspired him to serve his country. Representative Mooney and his wife, Grace, reside in Charles Town, Jefferson County, with their three children.
If Republicans can flip the seat, it will go a long way toward helping them win the Senate majority.
