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Former West Virginia coal executive Don Blankenship is making another attempt to win a U.S. Senate seat, this time as a Democrat. Blankenship finished third out of six candidates in the 2018 Republican primary for Democrat Joe Manchin's Senate seat. Manchin decided last year not to seek reelection, opening the door for Blankenship to enter the 2024 race. Blankenship will face Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott and Marine Corps veteran Zach Shrewsbury on May 14. Blankenship served a year in federal prison after being found guilty of conspiring to violate safety standards at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch mine before a 2010 explosion that killed 29 men.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says the state will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on an appeals court ruling that allowed a transgender athlete to compete on her middle school teams. A 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 last week that West Virginia’s transgender sports ban violated Becky Pepper Jackson’s rights under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools. Jackson, 13, has been taking puberty-blocking medication and publicly identified as a girl since she was in the third grade. The court ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, its West Virginia chapter and the LGBTQ interest group Lambda Legal.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin has endorsed a West Virginia mayor in the Democratic primary race for his seat representing deep-red West Virginia. Manchin described Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott as a man with the “determination, the vigor and vitality” to work in the U.S. Senate. He praised Elliott’s record of creating jobs, lowering the crime rate and revitalizing his city's downtown. Manchin's decision last year not to run for reelection severely hampered Democratic hopes of holding on to the coal country seat. To win the Democratic nomination May 14, Elliott must edge out two Democratic opponents, likely taking on either Republican Gov. Jim Justice or U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney.