WV’s Democratic Senate race includes a mayor, a populist and a protester

As election day approaches, voters in the Democratic primary will have the choice between three very different candidates — a progressive mayor, a self-described populist and an infamous former coal operator — all vying to take the congressional seat vacated by longtime Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. 

Between the two frontrunners for the race — Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott and Zach Shrewsbury, a Marine Corps veteran and community organizer — policy positions are relatively similar, but approaches to their campaigns and how they would hold the office if elected vary.

On the outside of the race with the potential to split the votes is Don Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy who spent a year in federal prison for conspiring to violate mine safety laws in the lead up to a 2010 explosion at Upper Big Branch Mine that killed 29 men (more on him later).

The differences between Elliott and Shrewsbury, at least in part, reflect a divide seen on both the state and national levels for the Democratic Party.

Having never held elected office before, Shrewsbury is approaching the race as a political outsider, running in the same strain that Paula Jean Swearingen did in 2018 and again in 2020. Shrewsbury said he wanted to give voters a “working class” candidate to identify with, criticizing Elliott’s political experience and — despite his self-described “middle-class” upbringing — his alignment with “career politicians” like Manchin, who has endorsed Elliott in this race.

A lawyer by trade, Elliott served as a congressional staffer in the 1990s for late West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert C. Byrd before being elected as Wheeling’s mayor in 2016. He said his political experiences make him a better fit for the federal office, and his work at the Senate gives him a step up in knowing how the process works and, in turn, how to work within it.

Background, policy and politics

Both Shrewsbury and Elliott agree, for the most part, on most basic progressive tenets: they want expanded and affordable health care, want to see reproductive rights and freedom for pregnant people, have pledged support for the LGBTQ community, support a transition to renewable energy and want continued and expanded funding for safety net programs known to help the most vulnerable in West Virginia.

Though he’s never run for office, Shrewsbury — who has described himself as both a “populist” and “socialist” at different times — said he worked on unsuccessful campaigns for Swearingen and former state lawmaker Richard Ojeda, who both challenged the political status quo by attempting to unseat incumbents Manchin in 2018 and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., in 2020.

With Manchin’s voluntary retirement from elected office, Shrewsbury said now is the ideal time to attempt to take the high office.

“It’s such an important seat and I don’t want to sit idly by and have it go to the same old, same old as always,” Shrewsbury said. “This is our one opportunity for a fighter to be in that seat, and that fighter is me.”

But on specific policy initiatives, Shrewsbury’s priorities seem to be more about “building awareness” through the office to turn the tide on state-level policies while expanding access to federal funds to confront the issues. When asked his biggest priorities for this seat if elected, he listed expanding access to recovery and harm reduction services, supporting unions and fighting back against attacks on abortion access.

In West Virginia, state laws, for the most part, are what prohibit action and progress on those issues as well as disqualify the state from accessing certain federal funding pools, which have grown immensely under President Joe Biden. 

For harm reduction, a state law passed in 2021 outlaws the existence of needs-based syringe service programs, handcuffing harm reduction providers from offering the care decades of research shows works best to limit the spread of communicable diseases and prevent fatal overdoses. While more money exists on the federal level than ever before for these services, West Virginia doesn’t qualify for many of the grants because of that restrictive law as well as others passed by the Legislature in years both before and after.

On support for unions, Shrewsbury said he would like to see Right-To-Work legislation overturned, which would need to happen on the state level following the passage of the law by the Legislature in 2016.

On abortion, both Shrewsbury and Elliott said they would like to work in Congress to see Roe v. Wade codified, which would undo the state-level law that prohibits abortion with very narrow exceptions.

When asked how holding federal office would accomplish his priorities, Shrewsbury said “the title of the office itself can build awareness through the media,” and through that awareness, he said, comes education. He also sees the position of senator as being a sort of financial watchdog.

“If we can secure federal funding, it trickles down from there. We really have to make sure to put the pressure on the state representatives,” Shrewsbury said. “We need a fire in that seat, because if federal funding comes here, we need to make sure it doesn’t get clogged up and stopped. To do that, you have to ensure you have the right person up top.”

He did not, however, provide specifics on how a senator would perform that role, which is difficult to do once the money flows to the states and is under state control.

Elliott took a more traditional tone for federal politics in explaining what his priorities for the office would be, saying he’d support legislation to reinstate the child care tax credit, fight against cuts to social security and Medicaid and work on finding a solution to make both those programs more solvent.

Efforts to do so are already underway at the federal level, and while Elliott said he agreed with the policies centered by Shrewsbury, success in enacting them depends largely on state-level support.

“I’m acutely aware of the issues that are holding our communities back in West Virginia. I’ve worked with the Senate and federal officials and I do think our state is missing some opportunities,” Elliott said. “We need to change the conversation around what’s possible here, and to do that we need to work together at every level we can.”

Elliott said he disagrees with claims from Shrewsbury and others that he is running as a “moderate” or a “centrist.”

“A lot of the differences between [Shrewsbury] and myself are stylistic. I don’t believe in being so aggressive in my messaging … I’m a Democrat who can build a big tent, bring some Republicans over,” Elliott said. “There is no path for a Democrat to win this seat without bringing people into the fold.”

Building ‘a big tent’ and November’s uphill battle

Whoever wins Tuesday’s primary will have a bigger battle ahead in November, facing off against either Gov. Jim Justice or Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., both of which are heavily favored to win the seat as Republicans over a Democrat.

Elliott said this is why it’s crucial to expand the Democratic party’s base in West Virginia. According to voter registration figures from the Secretary of State’s office, the percentage of registered Democrats in West Virginia has dropped by 38% since April 2016 while Republicans have seen a 27% increase. Significantly, there’s also been a 15% increase in independent voters over that same time.

“We have to reach out to independents and Republicans. I think we can align people along a more inspirational message of hope and what’s possible here than many think,” Elliott said. “There is no path to victory for Democrats by appealing only to those on the left of the party in the fall.”

But Shrewsbury believes his “populist” messaging has higher appeal for many Republicans who previously identified as West Virginia Democrats. In his tours and stops around the state, he said, many Republicans have liked his messaging. Several have vowed to vote for him if he is able to win the Democratic nomination for senate.

“I think a more populist, working class message can get through in the general,” Shrewsbury said. “People respect where I’m coming from.”

Elliott said he’s heard the same from independents and Republicans alike. A potential shadow, however, looms over knowing who could really win the race, as Blankenship’s presence on the ballot — which he said he sees as “a protest” against the government — could split votes away from either Shrewsbury or Elliott.

Both candidates said Blankenship’s only advantage — for better or worse — is name recognition.

For Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, who chairs the Democratic Party, Democratic voters in the state are in a much better position than Republicans.

While it’s been a hard race for the party’s nomination, Pushkin said it’s good to have different kinds of candidates who are able to defend their priorities through policy. On the right, he said, the primary fights have been ugly and mean spirited, tied to divisive social issues that have little bearing on the day-to-day lives of most West Virginians.

“The positive side of this is we are giving voters pretty distinct differences. On the Republican side, they’re trying to see who can punch down faster,” Pushkin said. “No matter who we have on the ballot in November, it will be better than who the Republicans put up.”

The ‘protest’ candidate

Don’t be confused: despite his presence on the Democratic ballot, Don Blankenship doesn’t consider himself a Democrat.

“You found one thing [Blankenship] and I agree on: he is not a Democrat,” Pushkin said. “Everybody can see through this charade, he is not a Democrat and he will never be a Democrat.”

After running for the Senate as a Republican in 2018 and for president as a third party candidate in 2020 — both races he overwhelmingly lost — the ex-coal operator’s latest attempt for office is, according to him, an act of protest.

“I’m basically running to go against the Democratic Party, against the Republican Party. What I’m doing in the election process is what protesters do,” Blankenship said. “I’m objecting and protesting what they’re doing by being on the ballot.”

In a bizarre run of campaign ads dropped over the last several weeks, Blankenship has doubled down on messaging from his previous unsuccessful campaigns, aligning himself against the government and telling voters that they should be as well.

When asked why he wants to be part of a government he clearly dislikes, Blankenship said he wants to “infiltrate” the government to turn its priorities around. Specifics around those priorities, however, remained unclear.

On abortion, Blankenship supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade to give states the choice to legislate the medical decisions.

On climate change, he said he “cannot say” whether the very sound science on how humans affect the climate is real, but he believes responses that prioritize renewable energy and lower carbon emissions are “a hoax.”

On support for marginalized communities, he said any protections or benefits for a minority — including anti-discrimination laws — are discriminatory to other classes.

He offered no specifics on any policy positions that he would like to pursue in Congress outside of being contrary to the status quo and, in some way, limiting government spending.

Blankenship said he believes he represents voters in West Virginia who are afraid to speak their minds against “the government and the media,” a view that has only grown stronger for him in the 14 years since the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster.

On the disaster, he remains steadfast that he holds no responsibility as CEO for the deaths of 29 of his employees, and strongly resented any mention of the event, which — along with efforts to eradicate unionized mining in the state’s coal operations — is what he is most known for in West Virginia and beyond.

“I don’t have any feelings of guilt because I didn’t do anything,” Blankenship said, before entering into a long-winded tirade about government malfeasance, the media and the system he sees himself as fighting against.

Early voting is underway in West Virginia and ends May 11. Election day is Tuesday, May 14. To check your voter registration or find your polling location, visit the Secretary of State’s website here.