Joe Manchin III

Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician 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 has called himself a "moderate conservative Democrat" and is often cited as the most conservative Democrat in the Senate. West Virginia has become one of the most heavily Republican states in the country, but Manchin has continued to see electoral success. He won the 2004 gubernatorial election by a large margin and was reelected by an even larger margin in 2008; in both years, Republican presidential candidates won West Virginia. 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, as the state had become increasingly partisan. He became the state's senior U.S. Senator when Jay Rockefeller retired in 2015. As a member of Congress, Manchin is known for his support of bipartisanship, voting or working with Republicans on issues such as abortion and gun ownership. He opposed the energy policies of President Barack Obama, voted against cloture for the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (he did not vote on the bill itself), voted to remove federal funding for Planned Parenthood in 2015, supported President Donald Trump's immigration policies and voted to confirm most of his cabinet and judicial appointees, including Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.