"Blankenship Suffers Beatdown In West Virginia"

"State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won the West Virginia GOP Senate primary on Tuesday, avoiding a nightmare scenario for Republicans, who feared that former coal magnate Don Blankenship would capture the party's nomination in a race that could determine which party controls the Senate next year.

The Associated Press called the race with Morrisey leading Rep. Evan Jenkins, and Blankenship in third place with only about 20 percent of the vote. Blankenship, the former Massey Energy CEO who was convicted in 2015 of conspiring to skirt mine standards and was only released from custody a year ago, conceded the race about a half-hour before it was called for Morrisey.

When Blankenship seemed to be surging in the final days of the race, President Donald Trump and the Republican Party implored voters not to back him, saying it would guarantee a loss to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in the general election."

Steven Shepard and Alex Isenstadt report for Politico May 8, 2018.