FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
FILE òòò½ÊÓƵ” In this May 8, 2018, file photo, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship speaks to supporters in Charleston, W.Va. Despite having lost the Republican primary, convicted ex-coal baron Blankenship said heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to continue his bid for U.S. Senate as a third-party candidate. Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s campaign said in a news release Monday, May 21, that heòòò½ÊÓƵ™ll be running as a member of the Constitution Party, which nominated him by a unanimous vote. (AP Photo/Tyler Evert, File)
Almost all attention to the primary election in West Virginia next month has been focused on the Republican side of the ballot. Thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s where the votes are, and thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s where the money is flowing. But there is a race on the Democratic side that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has injected himself into.
This week, Manchin endorsed Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat Manchin is retiring from. Elliott is one of three candidates in that race. Itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s a good bet that most West Virginians canòòò½ÊÓƵ™t name any of those with maybe one exception: former coal executive Don Blankenship.
Blankenship was CEO of Massey Energy, which owned and operated the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, where 29 miners were killed in an explosion in 2010.
After an investigation into the disaster, Blankenship was indicted on several federal charges, several of which were felonies. After a jury trial, Blankenship was acquitted of the felony charges, but he was found guilty of conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to the maximum prison term of one year, and he was fined $250,000.
He was released from prison in 2017. Ever since, he has tried to clear his name, saying federal investigators reached the wrong conclusion as to the cause of the explosion.
In his efforts to redeem himself, Blankenship began a second career as a politician. He ran for the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2018, but his effort to unseat Manchin failed. In 2020, he ran for president of the United States as an independent. And now he wants Manchinòòò½ÊÓƵ™s seat again, only this time heòòò½ÊÓƵ™s running as a Democrat.
All three of Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s attempts at political office can be described as long shots, but even that phrase overstates the chances he ever had.
If Blankenship wants redemption for what happened at Upper Big Branch, itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s not coming from the public, at least not in his lifetime. Maybe heaven has forgiven him, but the West Virginia voting public is far more hard-nosed about these things. The mine disaster was almost 14 years ago, but when it comes to such things, people have long memories, and forgiveness takes time, if it ever does happen in the hearts and minds of voters.
Manchinòòò½ÊÓƵ™s endorsement of Elliott is a reminder that Democrats still exist in West Virginia and the party plans to run a slate of candidates in the fall. One person the Democratic Party establishment does not want on that slate is Blankenship, and itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s easy to see why.
Realistically speaking, if Blankenship is ever cleared of responsibility for Upper Big Branch, it will be after he is dead, and then it will be by historians. Until then, he is better off out of the public spotlight and not put himself out there where he will be forever linked to those 29 deaths.
Blankenshipòòò½ÊÓƵ™s presence on any ballot opens the wounds that Upper Big Branch created. He should just leave the stage and stay out of the spotlight entirely.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Recommended for you
If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.
