CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Former West Virginia coal executive Don Blankenship has filed paperwork to run for Joe Manchin’s U.S. Senate seat. Blankenship submitted paperwork to run as a Democrat on Friday, a day before the filing deadline for the May primary. Blankenship finished third out of six candidates as a Republican in the 2018 U.S. Senate primary. He’ll have two primary challengers in the Democratic primary. Manchin announced in November that he won’t seek reelection. 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.
