Don Blankenship, who was defeated in the GOP primary, has lost his bid to have his name included on the ballot for the West Virginia Senate race as a third-party candidate, Politico is reporting.
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner denied Blankenship’s attempt to appear on the ballot.
Warner said Thursday that permitting Blankenship to appear on the ballot would violate the state’s “sore loser law.” The law prevents any candidate who lost a primary from running in the general election, according to Politico.
“According to the plain language of the law, which controls my decision, a candidate who loses the primary election cannot use the nomination-certificate process to run another campaign in the general election,” Warner said. “Any other decision would be contrary to the law.”
Blankenship had submitted signatures this week to run as a candidate of the Constitution Party.
Politico noted the decision to keep his name off the ballots is seen as a victory for Republicans who feared Blankenship could take votes away from GOP candidate Patrick Morrisey, who is looking to unseat Democrat Joe Manchin in the general election.
Blankenship had said earlier he expected to pursue legal options if his fight to get on the ballot was denied, Politico said.
He finished third in the primary and has vowed to work against Morrisey in trying to unseat Manchin.
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