Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who would have probably been the strongest potential Republican candidate in this fall’s special Senate election for the late Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd’s old seat, has decided not to run.
The news was first reported by the Washington Post, and was also confirmed to TPMDC by a Republican source.
Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin officially jumped into the race yesterday. A Rasmussen poll from a week and a half ago gave Manchin an initial lead of 53%-39% over Capito, making him the early favorite in the race despite the state’s recent trends toward the national GOP. It’s also interesting to note that Capito would not have had to give up her House seat to run — the law that the state just passed in order to hold this election would have allowed current candidates for other offices such as herself to run for both simultaneously, as a concession in order to gain GOP support.
