Background and career
Joseph Anthony Manchin III ( MAN-chin; born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman from West Virginia. Manchin served from 2001 to 2005 as the 27th Secretary of State of West Virginia, from 2005 to 2010 as the 34th Governor of West Virginia, and from 2010 to 2025 as a United States Senator from West Virginia. Manchin was a Democrat throughout his political career until he became an independent in 2024. Before entering politics, Manchin co-founded and served as president of Enersystems, his family-owned and operated coal brokerage company. After serving as West Virginia's secretary of state, he was elected governor of West Virginia in 2004 by a large margin and reelected by an even larger margin in 2008. Manchin was first elected to the U.S. Senate in a 2010 special election after the death of Democratic Senator Robert Byrd. Manchin won a full Senate term in 2012 and was re-elected in 2018. Representing a state that shifted sharply to the right throughout his political career, Manchin was generally regarded as the Senate Democratic Caucus's most conservative member and as a centrist, bipartisan figure. After the 2020 U.S. Senate elections, the Senate was left evenly split 50–50 between Democrats and Republicans. With Democrats holding control through the vice president's tiebreaking vote, Manchin emerged as a pivotal swing vote in this closely split chamber. In 2023, he announced he would not be seeking re-election in 2024. He was succeeded by Jim Justice, a Republican. In 2024, Manchin left the Democratic Party to become an independent; later he founded the Independent Leadership Council in 2026.
Joseph Anthony Manchin III was born on August 24, 1947, in Farmington, West Virginia, a small coal mining town. He is the second of five children of Mary Olga (née Gouzd) and John Manchin. The name "Manchin" was derived from the Italian name "Mancina". His father was of Italian descent, and his paternal grandparents emigrated to the United States from the town of San Giovanni in Fiore, in Calabria. Manchin's maternal grandparents were immigrants to the US from the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. Charles Gouzd was born in Poruba (Orlová), and Maria Lucia (née Michalík) was born in Heřmanice (Ostrava). Manchin's father owned a carpet and furniture store, and his grandfather, Joseph Manchin (Giuseppe Mancina), owned a grocery store. His father and his grandfather each served as mayor of Farmington. Manchin's uncle, A. James Manchin, was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and later served as West Virginia Secretary of State and Treasurer. Manchin graduated from Farmington High School in 1965. He entered West Virginia University on a football scholarship in 1965, but an injury during practice ended his football career. As a result of the injury, Manchin was unable to pass his draft physical in 1967 and was deemed unfit for military service. In 1968, as a result of his family's store burning down, Manchin took one semester off to help his family rebuild the store as Manchin's Carpet Center. Manchin graduated in 1970 with a degree in business administration and went to work for his family's business. Manchin has been a close friend of former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban since childhood.
In 1988, Manchin founded Enersystems, a waste coal brokerage company based in Fairmont, West Virginia. Manchin was president of Enersystems until 2000, when he entered politics and gave control of the company's daily operations to his son, Joe Manchin IV. At some point during his tenure as governor, Manchin moved his Enersystems holdings into a blind trust. In a financial disclosure from 2020, Manchin reported that his non-public shares of Enersystems were worth between $1 million and $5 million and that between 2011 and 2020 he was paid $5,211,154 in dividend income from them. In 2020, he received over $500,000 in dividends. Enersystems is 71% of Manchin's investment income and 30% of his net worth.
Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2010, Manchin has listed AA Properties as a non-public asset on his annual financial disclosures. AA Property is reportedly 50% controlled by Manchin, and has, among other things, been an investor in Emerald Coast Realty, which owns a La Quinta hotel in Elkview, West Virginia.
Manchin was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1982 at age 35. In 1983, he introduced an unsuccessful resolution to let voters remove language in the state's constitution that enforced school segregation. Said wording would not be removed until 1994. In 1984, Manchin served as an alternate delegate for Clyde See at that year's Democratic National Convention, voting for eventual nominee Walter Mondale, even though he personally supported U.S. Senator from Colorado Gary Hart. In 1986 was elected to the West Virginia Senate, where he served until 1996. He ran for governor in 1996, losing the Democratic primary election to Charlotte Pritt. At that time, he supported the Republican candidate for governor, Cecil Underwood, who went on to win. Manchin was elected Secretary of State of West Virginia in 2000, defeating Libertarian candidate Poochie Myers, 89.4% to 10.6%.
In 2003, Manchin announced his intention to challenge incumbent Democratic governor Bob Wise in the 2004 Democratic primary. Wise decided not to seek reelection after a scandal, and Manchin won the Democratic primary and general election by large margins. His election marked the first time since 1964 that a West Virginia governor was succeeded by another governor from the same party.
