Poll: Manchin leads GOP challenger by 8 points in West Virginia

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) leads his Republican challenger, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, by 8 percentage points, according to a new poll. 

Manchin, a centrist Democrat running for reelection in a state President Trump won by 42 points in the 2016 presidential election, leads Morrisey 46-38, a new Metro News–Dominion Post poll found. Sixteen percent of West Virginians surveyed said they were not sure whom they would vote for if the election were held today.

{mosads}Forty-three percent of respondents said they approved of Manchin’s job as senator, while 39 percent said they disapproved. The poll noted that disapproval for Manchin was at a five-year high. Eighteen percent said they were unsure.

Thirty-one percent of those surveyed said they approved of Morrisey’s job performance as attorney general, while 36 percent said they disapproved of his performance. One-third of respondents said they were unsure.

Trump, who has endorsed and campaigned for Morrisey, has a 60 percent approval rating among likely voters in West Virginia, compared to 41 percent nationally.

Will be going to the Great State of West Virginia on Tuesday Night to campaign & do a Rally Speech for a hard working and spectacular person, A.G. Patrick Morrisey, who is running for the U.S. Senate. Patrick has great Energy & Stamina-I need his VOTE to MAGA. Total Endorsement!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2018

Manchin is one of 10 Democratic senators running for reelection in states Trump won in 2016 and is considered one of the party’s most vulnerable members. The nonpartisan political handicapper Cook Political Report rates the race as a “toss up.” 

Republicans currently have a 50-49 majority in the Senate, and any one race could determine which party controls the body.