Manchin Will Seek Re-Election but Sends Democrats a Stern Warning

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia told colleagues on Tuesday that he intended to run for re-election this year after all, ending an anxiety-making flirtation with retirement and easing Democratic fears that the most conservative Democrat in the Senate was about to effectively hand his seat to a Republican.

In an interview, Manchin said he repeatedly expressed his frustration to Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and other colleagues, telling them that “this place sucks,” before finally signaling Tuesday morning to Schumer’s aides that he would file his re-election paperwork before West Virginia’s deadline on Friday.

“I was very vocal,” Manchin said, adding, “they read between the lines.”

Even as Democrats won a reprieve, Manchin’s discontent illustrated the divisions in their party between those from states that President Donald Trump easily carried and the more liberal bloc of senators, at least a half-dozen of whom are positioning themselves for possible White House runs. The rift contributed to the government shutdown over the weekend and the Monday decision by a group of moderates to force the government’s reopening.

It also will have to be bridged if Democrats have any hope of regaining the Senate in November, when they must defend 10 seats in states that Trump won, while winning Republican-held seats in difficult states like Tennessee, Nevada and Arizona.

“I’ve said this point blank: If people like me can’t win from red states, you’ll be in the minority the rest of your life,” Manchin said about his conversations with other Democrats about the need to tolerate more moderate lawmakers.

The frustration was all the more striking coming a day after Manchin celebrated with Republicans and Democrats in the so-called Common Sense Coalition, the bipartisan group that forced the government back open and vowed to lead negotiations over immigration, the budget and other matters.

But even as they celebrated, Schumer was being harshly attacked for what liberals saw as a capitulation to vulnerable senators like Manchin, who opposed the shutdown. The pragmatic Schumer has made no apologies for his efforts to protect Democrats from conservative states, offering Manchin plum committee assignments in the aftermath of the 2016 election when Trump was wooing the senator for a Cabinet post.

Senate Democrats had to hold something of an intervention to persuade Manchin to run for re-election. Recognizing the statement that his abrupt retirement would send about centrism and the political bind it would leave Democrats in this November, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, another Trump-state Democrat, prompted other moderates to lobby Manchin.

Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, who is also facing a difficult re-election this fall, left Manchin a voicemail message on Monday stating, “We need you,” according to a Democrat who heard the message but spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect private communications.

Asked Tuesday afternoon about Manchin’s decision to go forward with his re-election campaign, Donnelly grinned and said, “He’s a great senator, I’m really excited he’s going to continue.”

A former governor who has remained popular even as his state has drifted from its Democratic roots, Manchin is most likely the only West Virginia Democrat who could retain the seat.

And with the filing deadline days away, it would have been highly unlikely that the party could have put up a competitive candidate.

Manchin indicated he would submit his paperwork on Friday in person at the State Capitol in Charleston if the Senate is out of session by then.

He said that “more than anything,” the bipartisan coalition of moderates that came together to help forge an agreement ending the shutdown helped convince him that he had made the right decision to run again.

“That just reaffirms that, goddamn it, the place is much better than we give it credit for,” said Manchin, walking out of his office in the Capitol complex a few minutes after White House legislative liaison Marc Short had left a meeting with him there.

The senator said Trump had summoned him and Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, the newly elected Democrat, to the White House on Monday for a conversation about finding common ground on immigration and an infrastructure measure.

“They want to get moderates and make sure we can get something done,” Manchin said.

His aides noted that he had a dinner fundraiser planned for Tuesday evening in Washington and campaign events already scheduled for this weekend in West Virginia.

They also pointed out that Manchin’s grumbles about Senate dysfunction and the Democratic Party’s shift left were not new. Such complaints have been a recurring theme over his seven-year tenure.