CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — Political watchers are expecting a competitive U.S. Senate race in West Virginia on the Democratic side, as well as a fierce Republican one.

Former coal executive Don Blankenship is one of three Democrats in the race.

In 2015, he was convicted of one misdemeanor conspiracy charge related to the fatal UBB mine disaster and spent a year in prison. Blankenship was a long-time Republican who ran for U.S. Senate in 2018.

He has now switched parties and is branding himself as a conservative Democrat.

“I am a strong Constitutionalist, although I am a conservative in terms of many fiscal respects, financial respects. But I think I fit in, in making a difference, not in being a normal DC Democrat, but in making a difference. And I think that’s something we badly need,” said Don Blankenship, (D) Candidate for WV U.S. Senate.

Also running in the Democrat primary are two-term Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, and Fayette County’s Zach Shrewsbury who served in the U.S. Marines for five years. Early voting is underway, with the primary election day on May 14.

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The winner of the Democrat primary will face either Gov. Jim Justice or Congressman Alex Mooney who are locked in the Republican primary.

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