Will Manchin run for governor again?

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin says he’s “leaving all his options open” for 2016.  That is when voters will elect West Virginia’s next governor and, Manchin has said this week, he’s not ruling out a return to the Mountain State for another run.

Manchin was first elected West Virginia’s 34th governor in 2004.  He served a full term and part of a second term before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 to fill the seat U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) had held for more than 50 years up until his death.  Manchin was reelected to the U.S. Senate in 2012.

Manchin’s current U.S. Senate term runs through 2018.

West Virginia’s next governor will be elected in 2016.  Gov. Tomblin cannot run again because he has already served parts of two consecutive terms, the limit in West Virginia without a four year waiting period.