Blankenship has lost his Senate bid.
Don Blankenship isn’t going to be the Republican nominee for US Senate in West Virginia, but for a few minutes, he floated the idea of running in the general election as a third party candidate, per CNN’s Ryan Noble.
With Blankenship trailing in third place behind state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Rep. Evan Jenkins, he addressed supporters on Tuesday night, frankly stating, “It doesn’t look good right now.”
But, as Noble noted, Blankenship also teased the idea that he may consider a third-party bid down the line, if Jenkins were able to pull ahead of Morrissey, the Republican primary frontrunner.
Blankenship says it is not nearly what I hoped at this point. He is not conceding as of yet. He said he may still consider a third party bid-- depending on if Jenkins is able to overcome Morrissey.
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) May 9, 2018
But if Blankenship wants to run as a third-party candidate in November 2018, he’s going to be sorely disappointed. West Virginia has a “sore loser” or “sour grapes” law. Candidates “affiliated with a recognized political party who run for election in a primary election” and lose the nomination cannot turn around, register as a minor party candidate, and run again in the general election.
#WVSEN https://t.co/bFp5BIlEfM pic.twitter.com/EH12nxyMLW
— Leah Askarinam (@leahaskarinam) May 9, 2018
In other words — Blankenship 2018 cannot rise again. At least not this year.
Sore loser laws like the one on West Virginia’s books are exactly what they sound like — and they’re fairly common. All states save for three, Connecticut, Iowa, and New York, have these laws on the books to make sure that when candidates have lost, they are truly out of the race, according to a 2011 Georgetown Law Review article by Emory associate law professor Michael Kang.
This issue came up during the 2016 presidential election when President Donald Trump openly mulled the possibility of a third-party bid if he failed to secure the Republican nomination for president.
Later on Tuesday night, it seemed Blankenship had backed off the idea of running as a third-party candidate, per Noble.
“He said a write in campaign wouldn’t be ‘viable’ and if he finishes in 3rd place an Indy run of any kind wouldn’t have the impact he wants,” Noble tweeted.
In a follow up chat w @DanMericaCNN & me, Blankenship seemed to downplay the idea of a third party bid. He said a write in campaign wouldn’t be “viable” and if he finishes in 3rd place an Indy run of any kind wouldn’t have the impact he wants.
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) May 9, 2018
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