Joe Manchin III

Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 34th governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th secretary of state of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. Manchin is a conservative Democrat who has continued to win elections in West Virginia even though the state now leans heavily Republican. He won the 2004 gubernatorial election by a large margin and was reelected by an even larger margin in 2008; in both years, Republican presidential candidates won West Virginia. Manchin won the special election with 54% of the vote in 2010 to fill the Senate seat vacated by incumbent Democrat Robert Byrd when he died in office. Manchin was elected to a full-term in 2012 with 61% of the vote and reelected with 50% of the vote in 2018. He became the state's senior U.S. Senator when fellow Democrat Jay Rockefeller retired in 2015. As a member of Congress, Manchin is known for his bipartisanship, voting or working with Republicans on issues such as abortion and gun ownership. He opposed the energy policies of President Barack Obama, voted against cloture for the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (he did not vote on the bill itself), voted to remove federal funding for Planned Parenthood in 2015, and voted to confirm most of President Donald Trump's cabinet and judicial appointees, including Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. However, Manchin repeatedly voted against attempts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), voted to preserve funding for Planned Parenthood in 2017, and voted against the 2017 Republican tax plan. He has complained about the "toxic" lack of bipartisanship in Congress. In foreign policy, Manchin has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and opposed most military intervention in Syria.