WASHINGTON _ Voters in West Virginia headed to the polls Tuesday to determine whether Republicans will once again nominate a general election candidate who could cost them an otherwise winnable U.S. Senate seat.
Don Blankenship, a wealthy felon who ran racially charged ads aimed at Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his family, is competing against U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to face Sen. Joe Manchin III, the threatened Democratic incumbent.
Manchin is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the U.S. Senate, which Republicans now hold by a two-seat margin that has effectively been cut in half by the absence of ailing Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Blankenship, former chief executive of Massey Energy, served a year in prison for actions connected to the 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va.
He campaigned as the heir to Trump's "drain the swamp" mentality, but his political negatives led the president Monday to urge a vote for either Jenkins or Morrisey.
"To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference. Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can't win the General Election in your State ... No way!" Trump tweeted Monday. "Remember Alabama. Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey!"
Trump's Alabama reference was to the candidacy of Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in December who was accused of sexual misconduct against several young women when he served as a local prosecutor.
In the Republican primary, Trump backed Luther Strange, who had been appointed to the seat when the president chose Jeff Sessions as his attorney general. Trump supported Moore in the general election, but the Republican lost in an upset to Democrat Doug Jones.
In addition to West Virginia, three other states were holding primaries: Indiana, North Carolina and Ohio. Indiana Republicans are choosing among three candidates in a bitter Senate primary. The winner will take on the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Joe Donnelly. In Ohio, Democrats will choose a candidate for governor, with Richard Cordray, former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, facing former Cleveland Mayor Dennis J. Kucinich.
Manchin, a former West Virginia governor, was first elected to the Senate in 2010 to replace Robert C. Byrd, who had died in office. Manchin won re-election in 2012 by almost 24 points.
But the state has lurched dramatically toward the GOP since then, setting up a steep challenge for Manchin's 2018 effort. In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in West Virginia by more than 42 points.
Any Republican other than Blankenship would likely have the edge in November, analysts say. But given the way Blankenship chose to campaign, his victory would exacerbate Republican divisions in the fall.
Blankenship closed his campaign with audacious and offensive ads that targeted his own party, and particularly McConnell.
In one, he said that one of his goals as a senator "will be to ditch Cocaine Mitch," a reference to the discovery of the drug on a ship owned by the family of McConnell's wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
In another ad, Blankenship drew attention to Chao's ancestry.
"Swamp captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people. While doing so, Mitch has gotten rich," the ad said. "In fact, his China family has given him tens of millions of dollars."
The remarks, which Blankenship denied were rooted in racism, drew outrage from establishment Washington and McConnell's defenders.
"For those asking, this is my response to West Virginia Roy Moore: 'This clown is a walking, talking case study for the limitation of a prison's ability to rehabilitate,'" tweeted McConnell strategist Josh Holmes.
In the Alabama race, the accusations against Moore led to a split between groups usually united in their quest for victory. Outside fundraising groups withheld support for the Republican nominee, but the Republican National Committee supported him.
A Blankenship win could set up a similar dynamic in West Virginia, diminishing the odds of a Manchin defeat.
Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Republican, said that a Blankenship victory Tuesday would prompt him to donate to Manchin.
McConnell, who will hold significant sway over the spending of outside finance groups, was asked Tuesday what his response would be if Blankenship won.
"Well, we're going to find out what happens in West Virginia tonight," he said. "And I may have more to say about that tomorrow."
