5 Republicans file to challenge popular Democratic W.Va. gov. for Byrd’s US Senate seat

W.Va.’s US Senate seat attracts 5 GOP candidates

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Five Republicans filed paperwork Thursday to challenge West Virginia’s popular Democratic governor for the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Robert C. Byrd.

Industrialist and media owner John Raese is the best known among the Republicans who joined a field of candidates that already included Gov. Joe Manchin and two other Democrats.

The GOP pack also includes a substitute teacher’s aide also running for the state Legislature and a California man who attracted 44 votes in the party’s 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary.

The parties will hold Aug. 28 primaries before the Nov. 2 general election. The candidate filing period ends Friday. U.S. Senate candidates must be residents of the state they wish to serve by Election Day.

November’s winner will serve the two-plus years that would remain in Byrd’s term and take over from Sen. Carte Goodwin, Manchin’s Democratic appointee to the seat. Goodwin, 36, was sworn in Tuesday and has said he does not plan to run.

Manchin, a popular centrist now in his second term, entered the race Tuesday and is generally seen as the front-runner. But he must first prevail against primary hopefuls Ken Hechler, 95, a former congressman and secretary of state, and ex-Republican state lawmaker Sheirl Fletcher.

Raese, 60, is the GOP contender best known to West Virginia voters. He has unsuccessfully waged three prior statewide campaigns, including two for the Senate. His wealth could aid his candidacy given the special election’s 101-day timeframe. He pumped $2.2 million of his own money into his failed 2006 Senate bid, his most recent.

Raese told The Associated Press that his campaign would promote free markets and the need to improve U.S. competitiveness in the global economy. He also considers immigration, the federal health care overhaul and proposals seeking to cap greenhouse gas emissions among the issues in the race.

Byrd, a Democrat, faced Raese in the 2006 Senate race, winning with more than 64 percent of the vote. Byrd was history’s longest-serving member of Congress when he died last month at 92.

Among the other Republican candidates, Albert Howard of San Pedro, Calif., demanded a recount after his 12th-place, 2008 showing in New Hampshire. At the time, he was a chauffeur living in Michigan.

Lynette Kennedy McQuain, meanwhile, is already a GOP nominee for the House of Delegates in Marion County. The legislation setting the special election process for Byrd’s seat allows for such dual candidacies.

State GOP lawmakers secured that provision so Rep. Shelley Moore Capito could seek Byrd’s seat while she also campaigned for a sixth U.S. House term. Considered the Republican’s top prospect for the Senate race, she decided against running on Wednesday.

Republicans Thomas Ressler of Falling Waters and Scott H. Williams of Buckhannon also filed Thursday.