(PartiallyPolitics.com) – This November West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) announced that he had decided not to seek reelection in his state’s election. However, while this might have been as he said one of the “toughest decisions” of his life, it would also be particularly tough for Senate Democrats who were attempting to hold on to their majority in the upper chamber of Congress.
Still, this announcement was a huge blow in their hopes to maintain their Senate majority.
While Manchin, a moderate Democrat, had managed to win in the red state of West Virginia by over 60 percent of the vote in 2012 during his reelection, his margin of victory had only dropped by three points six years later. This has led to a big number of people believing that Manchin is the only Democrat who has the ability to win in West Virginia, especially following the changes in the state in the past decade.
In the 2020 election former President Donald Trump had won the state by close to 40 points.
The Democrats currently hold a slim control of the U.S. Senate with a 51-49 majority. However in the 2024 election cycle they will need to defend 23 seats, with three of those being in red states. Apart from needing to win the seats in Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, the Democrats will also be required to defend five seats that are in the key swing states of Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada.
At the same time the only possible competitive Republican seats that the party could try to win over are in Texas and Florida.
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