Joe Manchin won’t run for reelection
Huge developments. Just moments ago, we just learned Democratic Senator Joe Manchin will not be running for reelection. Huge ramifications for the Senate’s balance and powerless. Talk about it with CNN’s Money, Raju. We also have even more Ken here with us. And David Chalian, I’m honored to you first there as you were running around Capitol Hill, what is the very latest on this? You’re outside of his office. We see Yeah. Very significant news here that Joe Manchin just made. This has been highly anticipated, a decision from Joe Manchin because it has such ram a vacation down
the line in the battle for control of the United States Senate and just given the key position he has held within the Democratic caucus for some time, given that he is in the middle of the caucus, he has been central to some of the key legislative achievements of Joe Biden, his time in office. What is the Inflation Reduction Act or passing the infrastructure law? Joe Manchin making it clear in a post on social media that he will not run for reelection next year. Now, this puts is a huge blow for Democratic chances to keep control
of the Senate because there are several red states, Republican states that that are being held right now by Democratic incumbents. Including Joe Manchin, as well as Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod
And in addition to that, there are a handful of other Democratic seats that are also going to be in play. And Republican Democrats have another challenge. They there are two that are really only two Republican pickup opportunities. So far in Florida and in Texas. Rick Scott. Ted Cruz. But those will be difficult given the conservative tilt of those states. So that shows you the significant decision here by Manchin which which will have major ramifications for the next president, given the balance of power in the Senate. Senate confirms nominations, deals with key legislation, of course, and
the party in power decides the agenda. Who will be in power next next Congress. Right now, Republicans are favored, increasingly favored. But Joe Manchin announcement here just moments ago he really he could have been facing Manu, assuming he makes it through the Republican primary in West Virginia. The Republican governor, Jim Justice, Right. And that would have been a really tough battle for Manchin. Does this signal that Manchin, you know, is he just sort of you know, done with this part of things for himself or is this that he took a look and did they did
the math and really things that he can’t he can’t win this race? Yeah. He was looking very closely at running. He had been weighing this seriously for months knowing it would be an uphill climb. You’re right. The governor, Jim Justice, the Republican is running. He has a primary himself, but justice is favored in that primary. He’s also favored to win reelection with or against or Joe Manchin or of Joe Manchin. We’re not running and no doubt that that was a consideration here. What will Joe Manchin do next? Another question. He’s 76 years old. Will we
step aside? In his retirement video, he said that he would travel the country, see if there is a movement that he can galvanize to bring the two sides together. What exactly does that mean? He has toyed with the possibility of running as a third party, as an independent candidate, maybe on the No Labels ticket. Perhaps all those things would be very difficult for him to pull off at this key moment. But is that what he means? Unclear. Well, Joe Manchin is on his way back to West Virginia. This is the end of the week in
the Senate. So will the answer to those questions about his own political future? That remains to be seen. But still, this announcement momentous and battle for control of the Senate and the implications for the next president. All right, Manu, if you could stand by for us there. I want to talk now with David and Eva here. You know, part of it, I wonder, David, is this role that Manchin has enjoyed for some time now is being very relevant. You know, being quite impactful when it comes to where he’s going to throw his weight around. And
with so many Democrats being endangered, that might not have been the case. Assuming he even was able to pull off a win, I guess. Well, yes. I don’t know. How about a lot of emotion there. Joe Manchin has a find, finds a way of being relevant to many conversations, no matter which party is in control of the Senate. Because if you’re there sitting in the middle, you have you have sway. But to Matthew’s point, this cannot be overstated. What a dramatic blow to Democratic chances of hanging out of the Senate this decision does. I mean,
just think about this now, right? It’s a 51 49 Senate. Let’s assume for the moment this seat is going Republican. In fact, the Cook political report that does all these ratings, as soon as this announcement came out, they moved the contest to solid Republican in their ratings system. So so now you’re dealing with if a John Tester, as Manu mentioned, in Montana or Sherrod Brown in Ohio were to lose. That’s the ballgame. You need these Democrats in red states to win. And the Democrats would still need to win the White House to maintain control of
the Senate in a 50 50 universe. Never mind battleground states like Michigan or Nevada. Or other tough states for Democrats that will be up this cycle as well. And as Manu noted, with very little offensive opportunities. So this is a huge blow to Chuck Schumer’s math in keeping the majority. As a practical matter, it looks immediately dire for Democrats. But for a long time, I’ve been speaking to progressives who you know, he has not been a reliable ally to this White House. He has not been a reliable ally to Democrats. And they have long said
maybe this would be better so the Democrats can really invest in other states where they know that they can have someone that they can actually rely on. So that is in another perspective. Already, Republicans are gleeful. I see operatives already tweeting out our plus one. They’re very excited. But I don’t know in in the long term if maybe this means that they shift strategy to invest in other states where real Democrats can can play. Is he more he’s been more reliable than a Republican would be, though, I mean, they have to admit that, right? That
that is true. That is true. And that’s that’s the argument that has long been made. It’s better to have a moderate in that seat than to not have the seat at all. But progressives I speak to have long said, well, that’s money that can go elsewhere to get someone else who is more consistently a Democratic vote. What does this say? Let’s just kind of pull back a little bit. I remember covering the failed reelection of Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas and you know, in the end, the Blue Dog Democrats sort of the demise of them in
the House. What does it say about where we are and that it really comes down to, you know, if you’re someone like a Joe Manchin, where you’re looking more for consensus and you don’t mind agreeing with Republicans some of the time, just seeing how endangered that kind of mindset is in Congress, it is endangered. And Brianna, while you were talking and you mentioned Blanche Lincoln, I was thinking just to show where our politics have moved in 2004 when I was covering the Kerry campaign and he announced John Edwards as his vice presidential running mate and
they did a tour of the country, one of the states on the Democratic nominees, initial tour of the country with his new running mate was West Virginia, a Democrat. John Kerry was campaigning in West Virginia at a very big week for his campaign. That would just be unthinkable now. And so the politics of our country move clearly. The politics of West Virginia move. Do we know if, you know, in a tester race or some of these other really tricky races for Democrats, if it is much more of an uphill battle for them, knowing that mansion’s
not running for reelection and this is now a solid Republican race, then new voters in those races start feeling that their votes are not as important. And so it’s not just, oh, Joe Manchin isn’t going to happen. This isn’t going to be a Democrat in West Virginia. But what’s really the point here there for Democrats? Well, they have to all run races that are tailor made for their states. I will say in covering a Senate race in Georgia last year, it was actually on voters’ minds quite a bit. The balance of power in the Senate.
Yes. And so, you know, there might be some Democrats that are sort of cool on this administration, cool on the climate right now that don’t feel especially motivated to participate. And as things get tighter, this could be a good base motivator for those Democrats. I thought you’d move to Georgia at one point there. Either you had a lot of frequent flier miles and Delta, I think. All right. David and Manu there on the chase on Capitol Hill. Thank you to all of you.
