March 17, 2024 - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) isn’t giving up on keeping Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) in his chamber.

Manchin took himself out of contention for higher office when he bowed out of running for reelection last November and rejected calls to run for president in February. But Schumer recently floated a long-shot proposal of the centrist senator running as an independent in West Virginia’s Senate race, cutting off a prime seat that would help Republicans regain control of the chamber.

“I think that’s a long, long, long-shot scenario,” Manchin told CNN about running as an independent candidate. “So I don’t anticipate that happening. I don’t anticipate running.”

When pressed whether the door was entirely closed before the summer filing deadline, Manchin said, “I don’t know if anything in Washington, D.C., is 100%.”

Former West Virginia coal executive Don Blankenship is running as a Democrat for Manchin’s seat. He served a year in prison after being convicted of conspiring to breach federal mine safety and health standards after a mine explosion in 2010 that killed 29 miners. Blankenship ran for a Senate seat as a Republican in 2018, and if he secures the Democratic nomination this year, some Manchin allies think the West Virginia senator would be open to jumping into the race. 

Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) is poised to be the Republican nominee vying to take over Manchin’s seat, receiving an endorsement from former President Donald Trump in October. Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) is also running for the Republican nomination. 

Manchin announced in November that he will not seek reelection in 2024, raising speculation about a third-party presidential run. However, last month, the senator ruled out a White House bid under No Labels, the centrist group moving forward with a bipartisan unity ticket for the 2024 presidential election. 

Manchin appeared to be the most vulnerable Senate Democrat going into the 2024 cycle. Now, the seat is ranked as a solid Republican pick-up. Democrats face an uphill battle in the Senate this election season, as the GOP needs to pick up only one or two seats to flip control of the chamber.

Democrats would need to win in every competitive Democratic-held seat in the 2024 elections, which includes the seats held by Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Arizona’s open contest, which the CookPoliticalReport ranks as toss-ups.