Republicans Pick Up First Senate Seat of the 2024 Election with Joe Manchin Off the Ballot

Mar. 15, 2025

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice at the Republican National Convention on July 16, 2024.Photo:Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

West Virginia Gov.Jim Justicehas won his state’s U.S. Senate race, The Associated Press projects, and will replace retiring Sen.Joe Manchinin January.Justice, 73, easily defeated Democrat Glenn Elliott on Tuesday, Nov. 5, handing Republicans their first new seat of the election cycle. It was an all but certain outcome in the decisively red state.The new senator-elect — who went viral in 2020 when it sounded like he dropped the F-bomb on live television — has served as the state’s governor since 2017. In 2021, he made headlines forgetting into a spat with a West Virginia school boardafter his application to coach the Greenbriar East High School’s boys varsity basketball team was rejected.Prior to becoming governor, Justice was known as a wealthy entrepreneur who started his own farming company and inherited his family’s coal mining business. At the peak of his career he was a billionaire, though his net worth has since decreased.Justice’s opponent, Elliott, 52, served two terms as the mayor of Wheeling, W.Va., a town of less than 30,000.Joe Manchin.Anna Moneymaker/GettyThe West Virginia Senate seat was expected to go back to Republicans from the moment Manchin decided to retire, given the state’s deeply conservative politics. The race put Democrats on defense during this election cycle in their uphill battle to retain control of the closely divided chamber.Manchin, 77, held the seat for 14 years and was a political outlier as the sole Democrat holding statewide office in West Virginia. Heswitched his registration to independentearlier this year, but continued caucusing with Democrats.Manchin — once embedded in the coal industry through his family business — was previously the governor of West Virginia from 2005 until 2010, when he was elected to the Senate in a special election. He has also served as a state representative, state senator and the West Virginia secretary of state.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.His time in Congress courted controversy among Senate Democrats, as he repeatedly blocked the party’s agenda to appease his conservative voter base. It was how he continued to win elections despite his party affiliation.Last year, he revealed that he did not intend to seek a third full Senate term in 2024. “After months of deliberation and long conversations with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia,” he said in a statement.

West Virginia Gov.Jim Justicehas won his state’s U.S. Senate race, The Associated Press projects, and will replace retiring Sen.Joe Manchinin January.

Justice, 73, easily defeated Democrat Glenn Elliott on Tuesday, Nov. 5, handing Republicans their first new seat of the election cycle. It was an all but certain outcome in the decisively red state.

The new senator-elect — who went viral in 2020 when it sounded like he dropped the F-bomb on live television — has served as the state’s governor since 2017. In 2021, he made headlines forgetting into a spat with a West Virginia school boardafter his application to coach the Greenbriar East High School’s boys varsity basketball team was rejected.

Prior to becoming governor, Justice was known as a wealthy entrepreneur who started his own farming company and inherited his family’s coal mining business. At the peak of his career he was a billionaire, though his net worth has since decreased.

Justice’s opponent, Elliott, 52, served two terms as the mayor of Wheeling, W.Va., a town of less than 30,000.

Joe Manchin.Anna Moneymaker/Getty

The West Virginia Senate seat was expected to go back to Republicans from the moment Manchin decided to retire, given the state’s deeply conservative politics. The race put Democrats on defense during this election cycle in their uphill battle to retain control of the closely divided chamber.

Manchin, 77, held the seat for 14 years and was a political outlier as the sole Democrat holding statewide office in West Virginia. Heswitched his registration to independentearlier this year, but continued caucusing with Democrats.

Manchin — once embedded in the coal industry through his family business — was previously the governor of West Virginia from 2005 until 2010, when he was elected to the Senate in a special election. He has also served as a state representative, state senator and the West Virginia secretary of state.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

His time in Congress courted controversy among Senate Democrats, as he repeatedly blocked the party’s agenda to appease his conservative voter base. It was how he continued to win elections despite his party affiliation.

Last year, he revealed that he did not intend to seek a third full Senate term in 2024. “After months of deliberation and long conversations with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I have accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia,” he said in a statement.

source: people.com