Coal baron Don Blankenship has been denied a spot on the Senate ballot in West Virginia to run as a third-party candidate.
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner refused Blankenship’s bid on Thursday citing the “sore loser law,” which states that if a candidate in the primary election does not win, then that person cannot also run in the general election on another party’s ticket, reported Politico.
Blankenship ran in the Republican primary election in May and lost to the state’s Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, finishing distant third. He announced weeks later that he would run as a third-party candidate despite the sore loser law.
“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 in a statement. “Any other decision would be contrary to the law.” (RELATED: Blankenship Spent $100 For Every Vote He Got Before Trump’s Tweet Killed His Campaign)
Blankenship officially filed his candidacy to run as a member of the Constitution Party a day prior to the decision.
Today, I officially filed my paperwork for the office of U.S. Senate as a member of the Constitution Party. As I have repeatedly said, I am the only candidate who cannot be bought by out of state billionaires and I will work hard to drain the swamp. https://t.co/f94yulbNwF pic.twitter.com/tb5vTpcoez
— Don Blankenship (@DonBlankenship) July 24, 2018
Blankenship said in the past that he plans to challenge the sore loser law.
Senate Republicans are hoping to expand their 51-49 majority. West Virginia voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
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