Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has narrowed down his options concerning his political future for the 2024 election cycle, announcing Wednesday he was not running for president at this time.
“I’m not running for President of the United States. I can assure you of that as we sit here today,” Manchin told MetroNews during a radio interview broadcast from the State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia.
The two-term senator and former governor of the state later hinted that he wasn’t ruling out a decision to run some time in the future, and that he wanted to be in the best position to “bring the country together.”
Manchin also wouldn’t say if he had decided to run for re-election to keep his seat in the U.S. Senate, as Republicans eye the seat as a top target to flip in the 2024 election cycle.
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Republican candidates are already lining up to try and unseat Manchin should he decide to run again, including Rep. Alex Mooney, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.
Republican Gov. Jim Justice is also rumored to be mulling a run. He was first elected as a Democrat in the 2016 gubernatorial election, but switched parties at a rally with then-President Donald Trump in 2017, and was ultimately re-elected as a Republican in 2020.
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West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who was the Republican nominee defeated by Manchin in 2018, is also reportedly considering another run.
No other Democrats have announced their intention to join the race, presumably until Manchin makes a decision on his candidacy.
Manchin was first elected in a 2010 special election before being elected to a full six-year term in 2012. He was narrowly re-elected for a second term in 2018, but has drawn ire from his red-state constituents after supporting President Biden’s massive $739 billion Inflation Reduction Act last year.