He Helped Turn West Virginia Red. Now He's Running as a Democrat. - WSJ

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Don Blankenship, a former coal executive who spent a year in federal prison and most of his life as a Republican, is aiming to take the political stage again—this time as a Democrat. The opening was created by the decision of Joe Manchin, a Democrat, to leave the Senate. Blankenship’s entry into this year’s Democratic primary has rankled Democratic Party officials and exposed an embarrassing possibility: The party’s longtime nemesis could mount a serious campaign to represent it this fall.

The Democratic Party in this bright-red state is arguably the weakest it has been in 100 years. In all likelihood, a Republican will win the Senate race in November, leaving West Virginia with no Democrats in either house of Congress. The last time that happened was 1921.

Despite the overwhelming odds against a victory in November, three candidates are running to win the Democratic nomination to succeed Manchin. Glenn Elliott, the mayor of Wheeling, is touting his record in the city and ability to work with conservatives. Zach Shrewsbury, a former Marine and a community organizer, is running to the left on a progressive platform.

Then there is Blankenship, 73 years old, the former chief executive officer of Massey Energy. He served a year in prison after being convicted in 2015 on a misdemeanor count of conspiring to violate mine safety laws following the Upper Big Branch disaster in 2010. An underground explosion around 40 miles south of Charleston, the state capital, took the lives of 29 coal miners.

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Yet it would be hard to find a more polarizing figure in West Virginia. Blankenship continues to assert that the Upper Big Branch mine explosion was caused by a sudden inundation of natural gas and an airflow plan foisted on the mine by federal regulators. But many residents, particularly Democrats, haven’t forgiven him for the disaster.

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