WV-MetroNews: Manchin +10 against Jenkins, +14 against Morrisey

[Holmes]

Looks bad for Justice he will most definitely receive a strong primary challenger in 2020

Yeah, but he'll have Trump's backing which I think is more influential in WV than AL.

Then again maybe even West Virginians will be sick of him come 2020.

[UncleSam]

Definitely good news for Manchin though only +10 against Jenkins is a bit soft. Ds should hope for Morrissey out of the primary honestly, I'll bet a lot of Jenkins voters think of themselves as closer to Manchin than Morrissey (whereas the opposite is probably unheard of).

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Manchin is really centrist and gets his state, but violence on the far left could doom him.

[KingSweden]

Looks bad for Justice he will most definitely receive a strong primary challenger in 2020

The loser of the primary would have a good shot at him, honestly

[RINO Tom]

Why does everyone assume Jenkins will win the primary? Morrissey is in a far better position given his name recognition, statewide office, and greater base appeal.

Well, yes, he has statewide office, but how long has he been in WV compared to Jenkins? Also, he's from Jefferson County (far east tip of eastern panhandle), which is in DC metro and FAR more like VA/MD than the rest of WV. And what do you mean about "base appeal"? Jenkins is actually a better fit for those than Morrisey, look at his background. WV has a lot of D's-turned-R who say "the party left them," just like Jenkins,

Maybe on General Election Day, but last year showed there are still WAY more West Virginians choosing to vote in the Democratic primaries than in the GOP ones.  The GOP primary electorate, regardless of which voters vote for which party on election day, is not going to resemble the voters who chose Trump in 2016; it's going to resemble people who are registered Republicans in West Virginia, and that group is a relatively small minority that, in fact, has a lot of its concentration in Morrisey's area.  Jenkins might be helped on election day by being from Coal Country, but it won't likely matter in the closed GOP primary.

None of this is to say that Jenkins won't win the primary, but it'd be foolish to imagine WV is going to have all of these "Ds turned Rs" actually voting in the GOP primary, when they likely won't.

[Ye We Can]

Jenkins can win, but he needs to beat the carpetbagger.

[ProgressiveCanadian]

Manchin is really centrist and gets his state, but violence on the far left could doom him.

HAHAHAHAHA Delusional.

[Sir Mohamed]

Manchin isn't going anywhere. I think he'd win a double digit victory in the end with at least 55% of the vote.