Manchin, Joe, 1947-
Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 34th governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th secretary of state of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. Manchin became the state's senior U.S. senator when Jay Rockefeller retired in 2015. He has called himself a "centrist, moderate, conservative Democrat" and is generally cited as the most conservative Democrat in the Senate. As a member of Congress, Manchin is known for his bipartisanship in working with Republicans on issues such as abortion, immigration, energy policy, and gun control.
Manchin won the 2004 West Virginia gubernatorial election by a large margin and was reelected by an even larger margin in 2008. Manchin won the 2010 special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by incumbent Democrat Robert Byrd's death with 54% of the vote. He was elected to a full term in 2012 with 61% of the vote and reelected in 2018 with just under 50% of the vote. Manchin won elections in West Virginia even as the state became heavily Republican, with Manchin being the only Democrat in West Virginia's congressional delegation or holding statewide office in 2021.
He opposed the energy policies of President Barack Obama, including reductions and restrictions on coal mining, voted against cloture for the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (not voting on the bill itself), voted to remove federal funding for Planned Parenthood in 2015, supported President Donald Trump's border wall and immigration policies, and voted to confirm most of his cabinet and judicial appointees, including Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Manchin opposes many progressive priorities, such as Medicare For All, the Green New Deal, abolishing the filibuster, packing the Supreme Court, and defunding the police. Manchin has also repeatedly voted against attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, voted to preserve funding for Planned Parenthood in 2017, and voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In addition, he voted to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials. He is among the more non-interventionist members of the Democratic caucus, having repeatedly called for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and opposed most military interventions in Syria.
After the 2020 elections, Manchin became the "most important swing vote" in the Senate, which is split 50–50 between Democrats and Republicans, but controlled by Democrats because Vice President Kamala Harris is the tiebreaker. Since passing legislation with only Democratic support requires Manchin's vote, he wields a large influence in the 117th Congress.
