GOP more confident about W. Va. Senate as Blankenship fades

BY JORDAIN CARNEY AND LISA HAGEN - 04/29/18 06:25 PM EDT

National Republicans are feeling increasingly optimistic about their chances of avoiding an intra-party bloodbath in the West Virginia Senate primary. A spate of recent polling shows ex-coal CEO Don Blankenship fading into third place in the primary race, after an outside group with ties to the national GOP spent heavily to sink his candidacy.

That’s a U-turn from last month, when Blankenship was locked in a heated three-way race with state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Rep. Evan Jenkins and within striking distance of the Republican nomination to take on Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

GOP leaders fretted that Blankenship, who spent a year in prison for violating mining safety rules after a 2010 explosion killed 29 miners, could jeopardize their chances of toppling Manchin. The Democratic senator is a top target after President Trump won West Virginia by more than 40 points in 2016.

With Blankenship fading, GOP strategists say they are seeing positive signs that they’ll be able to avoid a repeat of last year’s Alabama special election — where controversial Republican Roy Moore won the nomination but lost the general election — as the May 8 primary fight enters its final days.

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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/385283-gop-more-confident-about-w-va-senate-as-blankenship-fades