Zach Shrewsbury faces an improbable task to replace the conservative Democrat in the face of a Republican onslaught – but he won’t be put off

By all indications, Shrewsbury, a 32-year-old Marine Corps veteran and community organizer, faces a difficult, if not impossible, road to victory. West Virginia gave Donald Trump his second-biggest margin of support of any state in the nation three years ago, and Manchin is the last Democrat holding a statewide office. Political analysts do not expect voters to elect the Democratic candidate – whoever that turns out to be – and predict Manchin will be replaced by either Governor Jim Justice or Congressman Alex Mooney, the two leading Republicans in the Senate race.

Shrewsbury’s message to them is: not so fast.

“People were really sold on the fact that Joe Manchin could be the only Democrat that could win in West Virginia, and I very much disagree,” Shrewsbury told the Guardian a week after the senator made his announcement.

  • Ergifruit [he/they]@lemmygrad.ml
    1·
    1 year ago

    as much as i would love for this to happen, i don’t think he could get a Senate seat… we’ve gotten actual hard leftists in more local positions before, but state-wide? especially when the WV Dem party is practically Republican, and would never back him. like, they’re so far from the national party line, it’s fucking wild that they’re still accepted as Democrats.