West Virginia Overview: Senate elections Nov 2, 2010

Senator Robert Byrd died on June 28, 2010. Democrat governor Joe Manchin appointed Carte Goodwin to serve until the special election. Goodwin announced he would not run in the special election.

Both parties held their primaries on August 28. On the Democrat side, popular Governor Joe Manchin is running. He won the primary nomination with over seventy percent of the Democrat vote.

On the Republican side, the 2006 Republican nominee against Byrd, John Raese, is running. Raese won the Republican nomination with over seventy percent of that vote.

The Mountain Party of West Virginia have announced the candidacy of Jesse Johnson in the special election.

In 2008, John McCain carried West Virginia with 55.60 percent of the vote while Barack Obama received 42.51 percent, a 13.09-percent margin of victory for the Republican.