Don Blankenship won't rule out third party bid in West Virginia senate race [View all]
Source: CBS News
Ex-coal CEO and West Virginia senate candidate Don Blankenship says he will not rule out a third party bid in the West Virginia senate race, if Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wins the Republican nomination Tuesday. "I have not ruled out anything," Blankenship told CBS News on Sunday, adding, "I've said that I cannot let him win because of the opioid connection and planned parenthood connection."
Blankenship has repeatedly stated on the campaign trail that Morrisey is at fault for the opioid epidemic in West Virginia, and vows he will not support the attorney general if chosen as the Republican nominee. "Mr. Morrisey has been less than truthful about his involvement with the drug companies," Blankenship said, noting that an independent bid might be the most viable option in the general election race against current West Virginia senator Democrat Joe Manchin.
Blankenship served a year behind bars for conspiring to violate mine safety rules following the Upper Big Branch Mining disaster in 2010, and is currently under probation. The explosion took the life of 29 miners. Republicans have long worried about the possibility of a Blankenship victory, and the prospects of a candidate with a criminal record, come November. In April, GOP strategists launched Mountain Families PAC, investing in six-figure television advertisement buys.
In the eleventh hour of his campaign, Blankenship plans to release his final radio advertisement, doubling down on his outsider status. "The establishment politicians are getting desperate and more hostile," Blankenship notes in his radio message, due to air locally Monday morning. "They are calling me a bigot, a moron, a despicable character, and mentally ill."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/don-blankenship-wont-rule-out-third-party-bid-west-virginia-senate-race-2018-05-06/
I assumed the Democrats would lose some incumbents, but looking at the opponents Manchin, Donnelly and McCaskill are drawing.....
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