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Senate confirmation of Biden's nominees

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28713

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I'd rather not follow Trump's approach to governing.  She would have been Biden's Rahm Emanuel.  I bet @Bateshorn can offer some stories about how much Democrats and Republicans dislike her.

Rahm Emanuel was a more effective and capable Chief of Staff than any in the Trump administration so I’d take that level of performance. That doesn’t sound like a very strong indictment. Biden’s Rahm Emanuel? Um, okay. 

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kevwun

kevwun 15653

Posted
Posted (edited)

How much more effective could he have been if he hadn't of pissed off so many people?  She's managed to get on the wrong side of Dem Senators ranging from Manchin to Bernie Sanders.  Being able to work with people is an important aspect of the position.

Edited by kevwun
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Bateshorn

Bateshorn 9905

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Why? Is she unqualified to do the job? Does she have a history of corruption?

Is she a worse choice than, say, Jeff Sessions, William Barr, Scott Pruitt, Betsy DeVos, Rick Perry, Ryan Zinke, Tom Price, Ben Carson, or that lying, crying, whiny little bitch Brett Kavanaugh were for their appointed positions?

Or is it just because she said some mean things about Republicans? I haven’t seen what she said. Was she calling to lock them up or have them executed for treason at least? Did she call their wives and children ugly? Did she call Antifa “fine people?”

She’s bright by all measures, although I question the judgement of any cabinet nominee that has that much time and partisan energy to be so very online.

 She’s also an unnecessarily difficult to confirm and controversial nominee for a position (OMB) where there are many qualified moderate and progressive candidates.  I’m not going to engage in whataboutism but the best meta analogy I can use actually Kavanaugh.  Putting aside the particulars of his case, there was simply no reasons for the GOP to engage in a bloodbath over his nomination when there were another half dozen vetted and deeply conservative candidates they could have easily slide into that seat once the Ford allegations appeared. 
 

Tanden is needlessly difficult.  It doesn’t have to be this hard.  Just pull her nom, find a different green eyeshade type, and move the fuck on. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

Thats my jaded DC take.

Edited by Bateshorn
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Bateshorn

Bateshorn 9905

Posted
Posted (edited)

There’s a difference between Congress adjourning and the Senate being in informal “recess.”  The former you can do recess appointments, the latter you can’t.  Congress hasn’t formally recessed since the Obama administration, for a variety of reasons, but mostly to thwart recess appointments. 
 

Basically, just because Congress isn’t in DC doesn’t mean they’ve hit the narrow constitutional definition set by the Supreme Court for legal recess appointments. Short of a freak occurrence, there will likely never be another recess appointment.

Edited by Bateshorn
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Js1

Js1 85110

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

party of feelings

Senator Susan Concerned of Maine said similar, but also called Tanden "unqualified"

From the same woman who voted yes on every initial Trump cabinet appointee except Devos and Pruitt, daring to call someone "unqualified"

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Js1

Js1 85110

Posted
Posted

Anywho, here is a Politico article on potential replacements if/when Tanden is pulled or voted down: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/20/neera-tanden-omb-replacement-470424

  • Gene Sperling - two time director of the NEC
  • Ann O'Leary - Newsom's chief of staff and the leading alternative to Tanden back when she was picked
  • Shalanda Young - picked as deputy OMB director
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Js1

Js1 85110

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Posted

Also with Garland's hearing, this is where we are with Biden's cabinet:

Confirmed

  • Blinken (State) - confirmed Jan 26
  • Yellen (Treasury) - confirmed Jan 25
  • Austin (Defense) - confirmed Jan 22
  • Buttigieg (Transportation) - confirmed Feb 2
  • McDonough (VA) - confirmed Feb 8
  • Mayorkas (DHS) - confirmed Feb 2
  • Haines (DNI) - confirmed Jan 20

Passed through committee, pending Senate vote

  • Vilsack (Ag)
  • Raimondo (Commerce)
  • Walsh (Labor)
  • Fudge (HUD)
  • Granholm (Energy)
  • Cardona (Education)
  • Thomas-Greenfield (UN)
  • Rouse (CEA)
  • Tanden (OMB)
  • Regan (EPA)
  • Guzman (SBA)

Committee hearing scheduled

  • Garland (DOJ)
  • Haaland (Interior)
  • Becerra (HHS)
  • Tai (USTR)

No action yet

  • Lander (Science and Technology Policy)
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Chuckie Finster

Chuckie Finster 22600

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Posted
Always a deal to be made.
 

After reading additional quotes from him, at this point I think it’s fairly obvious that Manchin’s refusal has more to do with his desire to appear bipartisan than any true, genuine concerns about her resume. The tweets make her the easiest to squash of Biden’s choices, so she gets to be a data point he can take back to his red state.
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Js1

Js1 85110

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Chuckie Finster said:


After reading additional quotes from him, at this point I think it’s fairly obvious that Manchin’s refusal has more to do with his desire to appear bipartisan than any true, genuine concerns about her resume. The tweets make her the easiest to squash of Biden’s choices, so she gets to be a data point he can take back to his red state.

He's "undecided" on Haaland and Becerra and a no on Tanden.  He was doing so great until these past few days.  

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Beantown Express 2.0

Beantown Express 2.0 6555

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Is there somewhere we can see a overall total of a senator voting "No" on more than one appointment?  I am curious how many of these Republican senators basically vote "no" on every single appointment Biden puts forth.  I bet they are the same one's crying about unity and how unfair everything is to their side. 

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45499

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50 minutes ago, Js1 said:

He's "undecided" on Haaland and Becerra and a no on Tanden.  He was doing so great until these past few days.  

Their objections to Haaland are complete fucking horseshit.  Fuck them in their fucking faces.  God dammit.  "Will you bend over and do everything we want for oil and gas companies?"  Um, no.  "CONFIRMATION DENIED!!!"

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TheStoicPaisano

TheStoicPaisano 9904

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

Is there somewhere we can see a overall total of a senator voting "No" on more than one appointment?  I am curious how many of these Republican senators basically vote "no" on every single appointment Biden puts forth.  I bet they are the same one's crying about unity and how unfair everything is to their side. 

Here.

Hopefully they update the count.

Cute shirt, Senator. Now get with the program on the filibuster.

 

Edited by TheStoicPaisano
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Js1

Js1 85110

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 minute ago, Biff Tannen said:

Shocker.  Hawley and Cruz lead the list.  Hawley has voted against every single one.

Voting no on every single cabinet nominee worked out great for President Kristen Gillibrand

Edited by Js1
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washparkhorn

washparkhorn 9935

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

No surprise there, Bernie has said numerous times that he would never confirm a filthy polack  Big Ag lackey.

But it was a gentle - no.

Quote

To be clear, Sanders hardly aimed thunderbolts at Vilsack.

“I like Tom and I’ve known him for years,” he told reporters after the vote. “I think we need somebody a little bit more vigorous in terms of protecting family farms and taking on corporate agriculture. I think he’ll be fine, but not as strong as I would like.”

It appears . . . Vilsack’s confirmation was in no doubt so Sanders felt entitled to remind the once-and-future USDA Secretary to stay on his Ps and Qs after overcoming early progressive unhappiness over his ties to Big Ag and his alleged lack of interest in the plight of Black farmers.

Both Biden and Vilsack probably deserve credit for assuaging Democrats disappointed when Ohio Congresswoman Marsha Fudge was passed over for USDA. (She was instead nominated for HUD Secretary. 

And in general, it’s a testament to Team Biden’s political skills that potential left-bent and diversity-based protests against various nominees have not, so far, materialized. With the exception of Tanden, no nominees seem to be in deep trouble. The one other potential target of progressive rebels, Commerce Secretary-designee Gina Raimondo, won 21-3 approval in the Commerce Committee with all the Democrats supporting her.


During the initial days of the Obama administration, three Cabinet nominations (Tom Daschle for HHS, and both Bill Richardson and Judd Gregg for Commerce) had to be withdrawn, and Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner was opposed by four Democratic senators (including Sanders). Bill Clinton had enormous problems getting himself an Attorney General, and overall had five withdrawn nominations.

 

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/02/sanders-first-democrat-to-vote-against-biden-cabinet-nominee.html

Spoiler

And on a point of personal privilege, Fuck Neera.  She is a pipeline siphoning off public investment to the lowest bidder.

 

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45499

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Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:

But it was a gentle - no.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/02/sanders-first-democrat-to-vote-against-biden-cabinet-nominee.html

  Reveal hidden contents

And on a point of personal privilege, Fuck Neera.  She is a pipeline siphoning off public investment to the lowest bidder.

 

I can get behind this. Big Ag needs to be taken to task. They are one of the biggest threats to the long term well being of this country and the world, actually. From an environmental and health perspective, not to mention corporate corruption. 

Edited by Biff Tannen
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Bullneck

Bullneck 18987

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On 2/20/2021 at 9:24 AM, WhatTheBuck said:

Why? Is she unqualified to do the job? Does she have a history of corruption?

Is she a worse choice than, say, Jeff Sessions, William Barr, Scott Pruitt, Betsy DeVos, Rick Perry, Ryan Zinke, Tom Price, Ben Carson, or that lying, crying, whiny little bitch Brett Kavanaugh were for their appointed positions?

Or is it just because she said some mean things about Republicans? I haven’t seen what she said. Was she calling to lock them up or have them executed for treason at least? Did she call their wives and children ugly? Did she call Antifa “fine people?”

Quote

Neera Tanden has mean-tweeted that Tom Cotton is a “fraud,” that “vampires have more heart” than Ted Cruz, and that Susan Collins is “the worst.” Fact check: mostly true.

Still, it’s good that her mean tweets will probably doom her chances of being confirmed to head the Office of Management and Budget. You reap what you sow, and Tanden deserves this.

I watched some of the Kennedy guy from Louisiana speaking at her hearing.  Suddenly these assholes are concerned about decorum.

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28713

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Posted
3 hours ago, Bullneck said:

I watched some of the Kennedy guy from Louisiana speaking at her hearing.  Suddenly these assholes are concerned about decorum.

He said she “called Bernie Sanders everything but an ignorant slut.” First, he’s using a nice little rhetorical device there where he’s criticizing her for something she didn’t actually say. Second, the Republicans hate Bernie Sanders. They don’t care about anyone criticizing Bernie Sanders. And third, as proof of that, one of his Republican allies followed with, “I wouldn’t have said ‘ignorant. So he was effectively calling Bernie a slut right there during the hearing, something that Kennedy acknowledged Tanden came short of actually saying. They’re total hypocrites.

I can’t help but think that a white male wouldn’t be getting the same scrutiny. When a white male talks like that, he’s being tough. But when a non-white person says it, they’re being uppity, and when a woman says it, she’s a bitch. Tanden is both.

Susan Collins says she doesn’t think Tanden has the experience. Gene Sperling, a leading potential replacement nominee, had this to say about Tanden:

“I have worked with Neera for over 20 years and have never stopped being impressed by the breadth of her policy expertise, her work ethic and commitment to helping Americans in need,” Sperling said. “She is supremely qualified to be OMB Director. I have been and remain 100% supportive of her confirmation.”

Susan Collins, as usual, is full of shit. The double standard is on full display.

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28713

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Posted

More on the hypocrisy:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/now-republicans-are-offended-by-mean-tweets/2021/02/22/a7fa1d30-754e-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html

Quote

Opinion: Now Republicans are offended by mean tweets?

NEERA TANDEN, President Biden’s pick to run the Office of Management and Budget, is in hot water. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) announced last week that he would oppose her nomination, meaning she needs at least one Republican vote to obtain Senate confirmation. Reports emerged Monday that Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) were all unwilling to provide that vote. Ms. Tanden’s problem? “Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend,” Ms. Collins said. Or, as Politico quoted a source close to Mr. Romney as saying, she has “issued a thousand mean tweets.”

Yes, Ms. Tanden has been undiplomatic. But the case against her confirmation is weak — especially when you compare her with many of the people Republican senators have endorsed in the past.

Republican opposition to Ms. Tanden because of her sometimes-tough tweeting reflects some mind-boggling hypocrisy. Republicans spent four years playing down and forgiving President Donald Trump’s disgusting tweets. Not a single Republican voted against confirming Richard Grenell, Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Germany, despite his history of Twitter trolling — including nasty comments about the appearances of female journalists and world leaders — which was far worse than Ms. Tanden’s tweets. Mr. Manchin voted to confirm Mr. Grenell, too.

Ms. Tanden is tapped to lead Mr. Biden’s budget office, where it is important for the president to have an appointee who reflects his views. Is it unacceptable for the OMB director to be strongly partisan? Republicans didn’t think so when they jammed through Mick Mulvaney, a co-founder of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, to be Mr. Trump’s first OMB chair, despite Mr. Mulvaney’s destructive opposition to raising the national debt limit and avoiding government shutdowns during Barack Obama’s presidency. When Mr. Mulvaney became Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, Republicans approved conservative ideologue Russell Vought to direct the Trump administration’s budget office. Ms. Tanden, by contrast, has deployed her sharp elbows to battle the Democrats’ left wing as well as Republicans on her right.

It is not fair to hold Mr. Biden’s nominees to a far higher standard because the president has called for unity while his predecessor denigrated it. Ms. Tanden should have been more civil in the past, like many people in Washington. But the Senate should approve presidents’ picks to staff their administrations unless those picks are grossly unqualified. Ms. Tanden’s long service in Washington, as a top player in Democratic politics and policy and as the head of a major think tank, makes her more qualified than was either Mr. Mulvaney or Mr. Vought.

For the most part, Republican senators thus far have been supporting Mr. Biden’s nominations with admirable bipartisanship. They will look silly if they allow some hurt feelings to get in the way now.

 

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washparkhorn

washparkhorn 9935

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Posted (edited)

Neera is not the hill to die on. Withdraw and replace. Neera will survive. 

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neera-tanden-omb/

Quote

 

I am not a fan of Neera Tanden—the head of the Center for American Progress (CAP), and President Joe Biden’s nominee for direction of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—and to the best of my knowledge, the feeling is mutual.

This doesn’t make me special.

Ask any number of leftist writers who spend a lot of time on Twitter about Tanden, and they’ll tell you the same stories:

  • how she announced plans to fire the unionized employees of CAP’s affiliated website, ThinkProgress, and to replace them with scabs (ultimately she just shuttered the site following public backlash);
  • how she allegedly hit a colleague, future Bernie Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir, for daring to ask Hillary Clinton about her support for the Iraq War;
  • how she named a victim of workplace sexual harassment in a staff meeting;
  • how she pressured critics of Israel at ThinkProgress, bowing to the demands of pro-Israel lobbyists;
  • how she accepted tens of millions in donations to her ostensibly progressive think tank from
    • Wall Street,
    • Silicon Valley,
    • insurance companies, and
    • the autocratic regime of the United Arab Emirates;
  • how she once suggested compelling Libya to use its oil wealth to pay the United States for its 2011 regime change operation.
  • And that’s to say nothing of the many times Tanden has tried to bully or intimidate journalists (such as The Week’s Ryan Cooper, or me) for writing accurate sentences about her, or complained to managers or editors about comments that she didn’t appreciate—not to mention her open contempt for Sanders and his millions of supporters.

 

 

I will not speak of her again in this thread to keep it clutterfree.  Different strokes/Different folks.

As a progressive, I respectfully disagree with her supporters.

 

Edited by washparkhorn
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Bama Chick

Bama Chick 28596

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Posted

Listen, I’m happy Sinema is at least a Democrat in name and all that but I’m getting real fucking tired of her stanning the filibuster.

And I’m also getting real fucking tired of her dumb stunts with “funky” hair color and her dumb message t-shirt.

She needs to quit trying to be a meme or “break the internet” and do something that will actually benefit this country and her party.

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Js1

Js1 85110

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

Neera is not the hill to die on. Withdraw and replace. Neera will survive. 

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neera-tanden-omb/

 

I will not speak of her again in this thread to keep it clutterfree.  Different strokes/Different folks.

As a progressive, I respectfully disagree with her supporters.

 

Her hearing got postponed today. Still doesn’t appear Biden will withdraw it. She may have to do it herself to save herself the embarrassment of taking an L in the committee or floor vote. 

On the one hand, he should withdraw it. On the other, fuck them and fuck Manchin for who he was willing to confirm for Trump but Neera is a partisan bridge too far, compared to Lock Her Up Sessions. 

Edited by Js1
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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45499

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Posted
47 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Go ahead and give Sperling the job. And then, at some point, make sure Manchin doesn’t get something he wants. Make him pay. That’s just politics. 

The problem is that Manchin is basically in control of the Senate because if he votes no on something, they are fucked.  He's a one man filibuster.  Essentially all of them are, but he's the most likely to go against the Dem goals, it seems.

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Js1

Js1 85110

Posted
Posted

He does know it.  He may go rogue on a confirmation or two to shore up his credentials at home, and maybe not go as far left on things like the minimum wage, but when it comes to something like the COVID bill, he's not going to blow it up by himself. 

He's still a proud Democrat and he'll be the first one to tell you.  His reputation has changed as the Senate caucus has gotten more left-leaning - a decade ago, he wasn't even mentioned as the most conservative Democrat when he replaced Byrd when you had Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, Mary Landrieu, Bryan Dorgan, Joe Lieberman (*spit*), Claire McCaskill, Arlen Specter, Kent Conrad and Max Baucus. 

Still amazing the Senate majority with 10+ ConservaDems in 2009 passed the ACA. 

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Bullneck

Bullneck 18987

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

Neera is not the hill to die on. Withdraw and replace. Neera will survive. 

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neera-tanden-omb/

 

I will not speak of her again in this thread to keep it clutterfree.  Different strokes/Different folks.

As a progressive, I respectfully disagree with her supporters.

 

Since I don't know why you have a problem with her, would you mind expanding on this a bit?  What has she done?

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wildcat09

wildcat09 29258

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

Listen, I’m happy Sinema is at least a Democrat in name and all that but I’m getting real fucking tired of her stanning the filibuster.

And I’m also getting real fucking tired of her dumb stunts with “funky” hair color and her dumb message t-shirt.

She needs to quit trying to be a meme or “break the internet” and do something that will actually benefit this country and her party.

Unlike Manchin, Sinema is entirely replaceable for the Dems.

There's a political line that can be walked where a Senator claims to support the filibuster but approves of "reforming" it in ways that would basically neuter it. I think it's dumb to try to walk that line, but don't really have a problem with Dem Senators doing it if they think they need to for some reason. But that doesn't seem to be what she's doing. I think she wants to keep the filibuster because it helps protect her from being the reason any particular piece of major legislation lives or dies.

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Js1

Js1 85110

Posted
Posted
Just now, wildcat09 said:

Unlike Manchin, Sinema is entirely replaceable for the Dems.

There's a political line that can be walked where a Senator claims to support the filibuster but approves of "reforming" it in ways that would basically neuter it. I think it's dumb to try to walk that line, but don't really have a problem with Dem Senators doing it if they think they need to for some reason. But that doesn't seem to be what she's doing. I think she wants to keep the filibuster because it helps protect her from being the reason any particular piece of major legislation lives or dies.

"Reform" (i.e., nuke) the filibuster for statehood bills, pass DC statehood, add 2 Dem seats in 2022 and win PA, WI and NC and suddenly, Sinema and Manchin can vote no to their heart's desire for 2024 re-election campaigns.  

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Js1

Js1 85110

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, BradInATX said:

Every time ya'll get mad at Manchin just keep in mind that when he retires or dies, he's going to be replaced by someone like Lauren Boebert.

Yeah but the far left will primary him and a true progressive will finally activate all the dormant and dejected liberals in West Virginia and we will win!

West Virginia U.S. Senate results

Republicans 
held
 this seat
CANDIDATE
VOTES
PCT.
 
Shelley Moore Capito*
GOP
 
547,454
70.3%
 
Paula Jean Swearengin
DEM
 
210,309
27%
 
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