2012 United States Senate election in West Virginia

The 2012 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held on November 6, 2012, to elect one of West Virginia's two members of the U.S. Senate for a six-year term. In a rematch of the 2010 special election, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin won re-election to a first full term against the Republican nominee, John Raese. Notably, Manchin outperformed Barack Obama in the concurrent presidential election by 25.06 percentage points in vote share, and by 50.86 percentage points on margin.

Background
Robert Byrd held this seat in the U.S. Senate from 1959 until his death on June 28, 2010, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1953, making him the longest-serving person in Congress. Byrd led his party in the Senate from 1977 to 1989, as Majority Leader or Minority Leader. Afterward, as the most senior Democrat in the Senate, he served as president pro tempore of the Senate whenever his party was in the majority, including at the time of his death.

After Byrd's death, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant initially announced that a special election would not be held until the regular election for the six-year term in 2012. However, that special election was rescheduled to 2010 for it to coincide with the mid-term elections and to avoid having an interim appointee serving more than two years in the seat.

Governor Joe Manchin made a temporary appointment of Carte Goodwin to the vacant seat. Goodwin was later replaced by Manchin who won the 2010 special election.

Democratic primary
[[File:West Virginia U.S. Senate Democratic primary, 2012.png|thumb|Results by county: {{legend|#7996E2|Manchin}}

{{legend|#7996E2|50–60%}}

{{legend|#6674DE|60–70%}}

{{legend|#584CDE|70–80%}}

{{legend|#3933E5|80–90%}}

{{legend|#1616CE|>90%}} ]]

Candidates

 * Sheirl Fletcher, former Republican State Delegate and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and 2010
 * Joe Manchin, incumbent U.S. senator

Republican primary

 * John Raese, perennial candidate

Candidates

 * Bob Henry Baber (Mountain), former mayor of Richwood and candidate for Governor in 2011
 * Joe Manchin (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Senator
 * John Raese (Republican), businessman and perennial candidate

Campaign
Raese filed a rematch against Manchin, arguing that he now had more material to criticize Manchin for. One example is how Manchin lost his longtime endorsement from the organization West Virginians for Life because of his vote against defunding Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. Another example is how he is undecided about whether or not to support Obama's re-election campaign. Senior Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod commented in response, "His concern is about his own political well-being." In addition, he voted against U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan's Republican budget.

Raese wrote an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, saying about Manchin, "Yes, he'll talk like a conservative and act like he's fiscally responsible to appeal to more moderate voters, but under that outward appearance of a lovable rube is the heart of a tax-and-spend liberal."

Raese continued to make controversial statements. In April 2012, he equated smoking bans with Adolf Hitler's yellow badge. He said "in Monongalia County now, I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke-free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. Okay? Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody’s lapel, remember that? Same thing." That same day, he referred to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "Fidel Roosevelt." Raese didn't apologize for his statements on Hitler saying "I am not going to be intimidated by a bunch of bullshit. I'm not apologizing to anybody or any organization. It's my perfect right to make a speech about meaningful subject matters in this country." He also called rocker Ted Nugent a "patriot" for criticizing President Barack Obama.

Results
In spite of the Republicans winning every county in the presidential election, Manchin carried 52 of West Virginia's 55 counties.

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Berkeley (largest municipality: Martinsburg)
 * Hampshire (largest municipality: Romney)
 * Morgan (largest municipality: Berkeley Springs)
 * Hardy (largest municipality: Moorefield)
 * Mineral (largest municipality: Keyser)
 * Ritchie (largest municipality: Harrisville)
 * Pendleton (largest municipality: Franklin)
 * Tyler (largest municipality: Paden City)
 * Upshur (largest municipality: Buckhannon)
 * Putnam (largest municipality: Hurricane)

By congressional district
Manchin won all 3 congressional districts, including two held by Republicans.