Manchin sees best fundraising haul in nonelection year

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) raised more than $4.8 million in 2021, which marks his largest fundraising haul in a nonelection year.

Manchin raked in $4,827,680.45 over the course of 2021, according to the Federal Election Commission. He raised almost $1.6 million in the fourth quarter alone.

For comparison, Manchin raised $3.8 million 2017, according to Bloomberg, which was the year before he ran for reelection and his most recent off-year record.

The West Virginia Democrat’s large fundraising total comes after a year in which he broke from his party on a number of occasions, causing headaches among Democrats and sometimes attracting praise from his Republican colleagues.

Most notably, Manchin effectively tanked the party’s chances of approving its roughly $1.2 trillion Build Back Better spending package, announcing in December that he would vote “no” on the legislation. Democrats are now working to approve a different version of the bill that Manchin can get behind.

He also caused a stir among Democrats earlier this month when he reemphasized his opposition to changing the legislative filibuster to pass voting rights reform, which is one of President Biden’s top priorities. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) joined Manchin to support upholding the Senate rule.

Democrats needed support from every member of their Senate caucus to move ahead on both initiatives because of the 50-50 split in the upper chamber.

While Manchin, who was first elected to the Senate in 2010, will not face a ballot until 2024, some in the party are already discussing a primary challenge to the West Virginia Democrat.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) earlier this month said he believes there is a “good chance” Manchin and Sinema will face future Democratic primary challenges.

Asked if he would be open to supporting a challenger, the Vermont Independent said, “Yeah, I would.”

Manchin, however, does not appear deterred by the chatter, telling progressives threatening to primary him to “bring it on.”

In the fourth quarter, Manchin brought in the most money from financial industry figures, who funneled $234,000 to his campaign, according to Bloomberg. Individuals from the real estate industry reportedly followed with $116,000.

West Virginia donors, however, largely shied away from Manchin in the fourth quarter, according to Bloomberg. Contributions of more than $200 totaled $1.2 million, but only $7,155 of that came from West Virginia residents.

In 2018 he raised 16 percent of his funds from Mountain State donors, according to Bloomberg.

The catalyst behind the depressed fundraising numbers among West Virginia residents is not clear, though it may be because of his fundraising strategy, the fact that he is not up for reelection this year or decreased support in his state, Bloomberg report.