Control of the U.S. Senate will be up for grabs in 2024.
Republicans and Democrats have been focused on West Virginia and whether Democrat Joe Manchin will run for re-election, and whether popular Republican Gov. Jim Justice will jump into the race.
Justice made his decision Thursday. He filed the paperwork to run for Senate, setting up a possible showdown with Manchin.
The conservative Manchin has been one of the Democrats’ key swing votes in the Senate.
Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, won the state by wide margins in 2016 and 2020.
Justice, a wealthy coal magnate, was a prized recruit for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He is the fifth-most popular governor in the country, a survey conducted last year by Morning Consult found.
Manchin has said he might run for president in 2024 in the Democratic primary against President Joe Biden.
