Don Blankenship lost his bid for U.S. Senate in the West Virginia GOP primary earlier this month, but now he's announced plans to mount a third-party challenge as a member of the Constitution Party.
It's a move that appears to violate state election law, but could seriously endanger Republican efforts to flip a Democratic Senate seat if Blankenship finds a way forward.
Blankenship has become a thorn in the GOP establishment's side. The former CEO of Massey Energy, who spent a year in prison for violating safety laws after an explosion at one of his mines killed 29 men, ran an primary campaign in which he took racially charged shots at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and insisted he was "trumpier than Trump."
Blankenship even produced an ad attacking McConnell the week after the primary, continuing his attacks on the Senate GOP leader as "cocaine Mitch," which he formulated during the campaign.
West Virginia is a top target for Republicans, as it's one of ten states that President Trump won where a Democratic senator is up for reelection, in this case Sen. Joe Manchin.
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01.24.2025