Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) on Thursday reportedly reaffirmed he will not seek reelection, snubbing Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s (D., N.Y.) suggestion that he do so to help keep the Senate out of Republicans' control.
"Hell no. Another six-year sentence here? Are you crazy?" Manchin said, according to HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic. The remark came after Manchin last week said he entertained the possibility of launching a late Senate campaign as an independent during a conversation with Schumer, telling CNN after the meeting that he "[doesn’t] know if anything in Washington, D.C., is 100 percent."
Manchin, who has served as a senator for West Virginia since 2010, first announced in November that he would not seek reelection this fall, a move that would likely ensure a Republican will take his seat and could tip the Senate majority to the Republicans. Manchin has until Aug. 1 to make his final decision.
"I understand the scenario," Manchin said on CNN last week. "I want my state to be represented properly for someone who has a passion for our state. So we just have to see what unfolds. Really—after the primary … it’ll tell you a lot more."
The West Virginia Democrat on Thursday also said he would join his Republican colleagues in voting against Adeel Mangi, President Joe Biden's nominee for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals who has faced scrutiny for his affiliation with radical left-wing groups, including one that has campaigned to defund police. "I’m going to be very honest with everybody. If my Democratic colleagues and friends can’t get one Republican vote, don’t count on me," Manchin said a day earlier, adding that "I’m not leaving this place unless I can practice what I preach and I’m preaching, basically bipartisanship. This is my little way of doing it."