# The candidacy of Don Blankenship (US Senate - WV) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 7, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764 "2018-05-07T15:52:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/21 "2018-05-08T08:50:14Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Yes “I hope they nominate X, because he/she can’t possibly win the actual election” is something we can absolutely say without getting a bad feeling. West Virginia is possibly the most racist state in the Union. If a strategy of racism is going to work, it’s going to work there. More ominously, as the campaign has started to get underway, incumbent Joe Manchin’s approval numbers have dropped steadily. Manchin’s a guy who’s worked hard to stay relatively neutral and bipartisan, and for a while it seemed to work, but it’s not working now. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/22 "2018-05-08T10:21:29Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > His creepy ad reminds me of the old Junior Samples car dealer ads on Hee Haw. > > I wish him the best of luck tomorrow and hope the I am not a witch Christine O’Donnell makes another go at it somewhere too. Oh, and there are a few states Scott Brown hasn’t lost in yet, he should make a run somewhere too. And let’s get Sharron Angle back in the action as well. I would vote for the witch over Trump and a lot of other people. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/23 "2018-05-08T14:09:47Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Yes “I hope they nominate X, because he/she can’t possibly win the actual election” is something we can absolutely say without getting a bad feeling. Yes, when I read about Blankenship, I think, “We thought nobody could be a worse President than Bush. Now we know who’s going to be a worse President than Trump.” ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/24 "2018-05-08T14:20:15Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > … If I had to guess, I would guess that fewer than 29 West Virginians have been killed by “China People” in the last 10 years. Yet the Blankenship voters seem to be more afraid of the “China People” than they are of Blankenship. I don’t get it. I don’t think that’s a bet I would take, depending on how narrowly one were to define “China people”. If there’s any group that could rival a West Virginia coal baron for scrimping on safety and cutting corners, I imagine it’s Chinese manufacturers. That, combined with the occasional murder or fatal vehicle collision where a “China person” was at fault almost certainly add up to more than 29 people in the last 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/25 "2018-05-08T14:25:03Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I try to understand the type of voters he’s appealing to, I really do, but I just can’t wrap my mind around their mindset. Don’t they realize that they’re a lot more likely to be harmed by people like Blankenship than by China People? If I had to guess, I would guess that fewer than 29 West Virginians have been killed by “China People” in the last 10 years. Yet the Blankenship voters seem to be more afraid of the “China People” than they are of Blankenship. I don’t get it. Even if your guess is wrong, that’d be a hell of a campaign slogan: “Vote Blankenship – he’s killed fewer West Virginians than the entire country of China plus all Chinese Americans”. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/26 "2018-05-08T14:33:08Z")
Just realized you said “fewer than 29 West Virginians”. That’s more likely to be accurate. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/27 "2018-05-08T16:09:37Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Just realized you said “fewer than 29 West Virginians”. That’s more likely to be accurate. Admittedly what I had in mind is deaths of people in West Virginia caused by Chinese nationals in West Virginia. ETA My underlying assumption is that very few Chinese people go to West Virginia, whether as tourists, immigrants (legal or illegal), or on business. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/28 "2018-05-09T00:47:11Z")
Blankenship getting waxed. [MetroNews Election Results -- Powered by Citynet](http://elections.wvmetronews.com/results.cfm?func=showresults&show=ussenate&refresh=084642) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/29 "2018-05-09T01:10:02Z")
Is there a runoff if no one gets an absolute majority? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/30 "2018-05-09T01:13:08Z")
Disaster averted (I think). Props to WV voters for giving me the finger and shoving my anxiety up my ass. This is one time when I kinda enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/31 "2018-05-09T01:19:07Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Is there a runoff if no one gets an absolute majority? No. Tight race. Blankenship was dangerously close to finishing fourth and even more dangerously close to finishing second place. He was much less dangerously close to winning, missing bit by a mere 16 points. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/32 "2018-05-09T01:23:45Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Disaster averted (I think). > > Props to WV voters for giving me the finger and shoving my anxiety up my ass. This is one time when I kinda enjoyed it. The only disappointing part is that Trump will claim this as a victory. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/33 "2018-05-09T01:25:52Z")
ABC News interviewed a West Virginian who lost three cousins in the mine explosion who said he’s voting for Blankenship because he’s the crook he knows. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/34 "2018-05-09T01:28:40Z")
the scary thing is he’s just using this election to get his name/positions out … its the next election after he’s built a base is the dangerous one ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/35 "2018-05-09T01:48:46Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > the scary thing is he’s just using this election to get his name/positions out … its the next election after he’s built a base is the dangerous one Danger zone!! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/36 "2018-05-09T02:01:44Z")
As of 9:56pm Eastern, with 60% of the votes in, Blankenship is a distant third, with 20.8% of the vote. Patrick Morrisey is currently leading, with 33.3%, followed by Evan Jenkins with 30.6%. > **[Election 2018: Midterm election news & results](https://www.nbcnews.com/decision-2018)** > > Find the latest 2018 primary results, election news and polls on NBCNews.com. Read analyses and get the latest news on key races including California, Ohio, Texas and more. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/37 "2018-05-09T02:05:00Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Danger zone!! Wtf? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/38 "2018-05-09T02:12:26Z")
Don’t worry, Carnal, I ‘got it’. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/39 "2018-05-09T02:14:13Z")
It’s an Archer reference. So what’s this next election that’s dangerously possible Blankenship might run for and come dangerously close to winning? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764/40 "2018-05-09T02:34:52Z")
Can somebody explain the [electoral map in West Virginia](https://www.washingtonpost.com/election-results/west-virginia/?utm_term=.3fe77dc9dc65)? I’ve seen states split between Democrats and Republicans, but I’ve never seen such a sharp line between candidates of one party. What is WV like to produce this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-candidacy-of-don-blankenship-us-senate-wv/813764.md?page=3)