Popular Gov. Jim Justice (R) rolled to an easy victory to pick up retiring Sen. Joe Manchin’s (I) seat in West Virginia, marking the first time Republicans have won the seat since the 1950s.
He defeated little-known Democratic challenger Glenn Elliott, the mayor of Wheeling.
Democratic leaders in Washington privately conceded months ago that Republicans would capture the seat.
Justice’s win likely gives Republicans control of at least 50 Senate seats unless Independent candidate Dan Osborn can pull off an upset over Sen. Deb Fischer (R) in Nebraska or Rep. Colin Allred (D) can shock Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in the Texas Senate race.
He will take over the seat that late-Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) held from 1958 to 2010.
Justice, 73, who is wrapping up his second term as governor, was a highly prized recruit of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who made personal overtures to Justice to persuade him to jump into the race.
McConnell flew out to West Virginia to convince Justice to challenge Manchin, who managed to win reelection in 2018 despite former President Trump carrying his state with 68 percent of the vote in the 2016 presidential election.
Justice had a 51 percent