It wasn’t much of a fight. West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin easily beat his opponent to win the special election for the Senate seat held by the late Robert Byrd. Byrd, who died earlier this year at the age of 92, was the Senate’s longest-serving member. Manchin will go up against Republican nominee and businessman John Raese in November. The two will be key figures in the Democrats’ battle to hang on to their Senate majority in the fall, as the economic recovery slows and voters look for change.
