Joe Manchin

Joe Manchin
United States Senator from West Virginia
Incumbent
Assumed office November 15, 2010 Serving with Shelley Moore Capito
Preceded by	Carte Goodwin
34th Governor of West Virginia
In office January 17, 2005 – November 15, 2010
Preceded by	Bob Wise
Succeeded by	Earl Ray Tomblin
27th Secretary of State of West Virginia
In office January 15, 2001 – January 17, 2005
Governor	Bob Wise
Preceded by	Ken Hechler
Succeeded by	Betty Ireland
Personal details
Born	Joseph Manchin III (1947-08-24) August 24, 1947 (age 77) Farmington, West Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Independent (2024–present) Democratic (until 2024)
Spouse(s)	Gayle Conelly Manchin ​ ​ (m. 1967)​
Children	3
Education	West Virginia University (BBA)
Signature
Website	Senate website

Joseph Manchin III (/ˈmæntʃɪn/ MAN-chin; born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman. He has represented West Virginia in the United States Senate since 2010. Manchin was also the governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010. He was a member of the Democratic Party for most of his life. In 2024, he became a independent politician. Before becoming a politician, he worked in the coal industry. He founded Enersystems, a family-owned coal company.^[1]

Manchin calls himself a "centrist, moderate, conservative Democrat".^[2] He doesn't want American troops in Afghanistan and Syria. He has voted against his party many times. He voted to support many of Donald Trump's policies, even though Trump was a Republican.^[3] However, he has supported many Democratic policies too. He supported the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare". He also voted to convict Donald trump in his impeachment trials. He also voted for Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and the Inflation Reduction Act.^[4]

Since 2021, Manchin has had a lot of power in Congress. Because the Senate is split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans, every single vote matters a lot. Without Manchin's vote, any Democratic policy is hard to pass.^[5]

1. ↑ "ENERSYSTEMS, INC. :: West Virginia (US) :: OpenCorporates". opencorporates.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
2. ↑ Colegrove, Andrew (November 10, 2016). "Senator Manchin refutes speculation of a party switch". WSAZ-TV. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
3. ↑ Zengerle, Jason (September 26, 2018). "The Struggles of Joe Manchin, the Last Democrat in Trump Country". GQ.
4. ↑ Foran, Clare (March 25, 2022). "Manchin says he will vote for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson". CNN. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
5. ↑ "Senate's 50-50 split lets Manchin and Sinema revel in outsize influence". the Guardian. 2021-10-29. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-27.