| | | | |  | | By Ursula Perano | | Presented by |  | | | with assists from POLITICO's Congress team
|  FILE - Former Massey CEO Don Blankenship speaks during a town hall to kick off his Republican U.S. Senate campaign in Logan, W.Va., Jan. 18, 2018. Blankenship is running in the May 14 primary as a Democrat for the seat being vacated by Sen. Joe Manchin. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) | AP | THE OTHER WEST VIRGINIA SENATE PRIMARY We’ve all heard about the West Virginia GOP Senate primary by now. But the Democratic counterpart is also coming up on Tuesday — and shaping up to be a competition of its own. Three contenders are gussying up for the nomination, including Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, veteran Zach Shrewsbury and businessman Don Blankenship. Blankenship — who previously ran for office as a Republican and is a convicted criminal — is in a category of his own. But the other two contenders are pitching voters on very different appeals: Elliott is an old-school Democratic moderate, while Shrewsbury is a progressive who often recounts that Bernie Sanders won the West Virginia Democratic presidential primary in 2016. “I wouldn’t characterize myself as necessarily being a conservative Democrat, I think I am where the party used to be, and in my opinion needs to be,” said Elliott, who’s been endorsed by outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin (D). “West Virginians haven't had a choice in forever. You always had, frankly, just bad choices across the board,” said Shrewsbury, who originally entered the race in an attempt to primary Manchin. “It's not necessarily a Republican-held state here. It's a state of desperation. West Virginians want to be heard.” Here’s the thing: After Manchin opted for retirement, conventional knowledge of the race changed. No longer was that West Virginia Senate seat a toss-up — it was a ruby-red pickup opportunity for Republicans. It’s a fate many states with odd-party-out lawmakers have faced, or could someday. For instance, if Sen. Jon Tester (D) had opted to forgo reelection in the otherwise red Montana, which he actively considered, the race could have been a GOP slam dunk. Both Shrewsbury and Elliott challenged the notion that West Virginia is impermeable for Democrats this cycle, insisting it could be competitive with the right candidate. But the race’s outcome could have critical consequences on where the state’s Democratic base goes when Manchin, a bonafide moderate, isn’t an option. What’s more, the viability of whoever the ultimate nominee is could have a massive impact on whether Democrats nationally choose to make a play in the West Virginia Senate race, if at all. “Don’t count West Virginia out yet,” Shrewsbury urged. Elliott also noted any effort to organize in West Virginia could come at a low price — particularly compared to other states in play this cycle. “Media spend in West Virginia can go a lot further than it can go in some of the larger media market states,” said Elliott. “I think if I can prove to them that I can get the gap in this race down to something manageable … I believe we'll be able to make a strong case that this is a race that could be made winnable.” — Ursula Perano GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on Friday, May 10, where we are very, very happy to be headed into the weekend.
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes: President Biden: American chemistry is the backbone of innovation. It's time to address the regulatory overload stifling American chemistry. Chemistry powers our semiconductors, medical devices, and clean energy initiatives. But your administration’s avalanche of regulations is hampering America’s progress and competitiveness. American chemistry is more than an industry; it's our future. The Biden Administration must commit to smarter, growth-oriented regulations before it’s too late - because when chemistry is enabled to create, America competes. | | | CONGRESSIONAL COLLABS COMING AT YA House members are now for the first time allowed to co-sponsor or co-host constituent events with certain organizations and agencies — a basic synergy that had previously been barred under ethics rules. Members have been frustrated about this disconnect and talking about solving it for more than a decade. This week, the House Administration Committee, in coordination with House Ethics, finalized new guidance to open the door for members to coordinate events with other government agencies or local organizations. The House Administration panel “prioritized finding a more flexible approach to interpreting the House rules governing how Member offices can partner with outside organizations,” in this overhaul. The co-sponsorships are limited to “qualified entities,” including local non-profits and federal, state, or local government entities, but that dramatically expands the partnerships possible. When back in their districts, members can now co-host an event with the local VFW outpost or even the VA itself, to spread the word about resources for veterans in the community. Or an event with a non-profit focused on college readiness for students in the district for a financial aid seminar. District staff should study up on the new guidance because we expect lawmakers to want to jump into hosting these joint events ASAP. And take note of the black-out period: members can’t co-sponsor constituent service events 60 days ahead of their primary or general election. — Katherine Tully-McManus
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes:   | | | GOP’S SYMBOLIC ISRAEL RESPONSE Congressional Republicans are racing to express their opposition to the Biden administration’s decision to delay the shipment of some weapons to Israel. But it’s shaping up, at least for now, to be a largely symbolic response. In the Senate, a group of Republicans have introduced a resolution condemning the decision. And in the House, Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) is filing an article of impeachment against Biden accusing him of “abuse of power.” Mills’ office didn’t respond to a question on Friday about whether he’ll make the resolution privileged, which would allow him to force a vote on the House floor. But there’s little reason to think the impeachment effort will result in a Senate trial. A separate months-old impeachment inquiry, largely focused on the business deals of Biden’s family members, is still plugging away behind the scenes but has moved to the conference’s back burner in a recognition that they don’t have the votes. And when Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) tried to force a vote on her impeachment resolution related to Biden’s handling of the border last year, the House instead pigeonholed it by sending it to committee. What House Republicans are planning: Oversight Committee Republicans fired off a request for information on Friday. And Majority Leader Steve Scalise indicated in a Fox News interview this morning that they would take up legislation to compel the administration to release the weapons and that Republicans were drafting a bill to do so. But even though Biden’s decision has sparked concern among some Democrats, and GOP leadership has predicted their legislation would get bipartisan support, such a bill would face a likely buzzsaw: the Senate. – Jordain Carney
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes: Did you know that it takes 500 highly specialized chemicals to manufacture one semiconductor chip. And the Biden Administration is investing billions to build semiconductor plants in the U.S.
There’s just one big problem: the president’s administration keeps rolling out regulations and restrictions that could impair chemical manufacturers’ ability to produce the very inputs needed to achieve this expansion.
“You can build all the semiconductor plants you want, but if critical chemistries aren’t available, you won’t be successful in onshoring the chip manufacturing supply chain. This is an issue of national security.” – Chris Jahn, President and CEO, American Chemistry Council
Call on the Biden Administration to stop undercutting American innovation and national priorities.
Learn more at http://chemistrycreates.org | | | | | | Some of Nancy Mace's former staffers are considering legal action over a Daily Mail story (linked below) that alleges they engaged in gross and criminal mismanagement of her office, saying the South Carolina Republican is blaming them to "cover up her own incompetence." The group added in a statement: "Either she files police reports and ethics reports, or she is full of shit and needs to publicly retract her defamatory falsehoods.” The DCA slots war will never end. Should one embrace the Cups Chinese food buffet — at 10:50 a.m., no less? (The only correct answer is yes.) Don Bacon is making astrology jokes.
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| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | TRANSITIONS Max Luong is now speechwriter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler. He previously was director of executive comms at SKDK and is a DCCC alum. Mia Jacobs is now national press secretary for the AFL-CIO. She was previously communications director for the Congressional Progressive Caucus. MONDAY IN CONGRESS The House and Senate are out. MONDAY AROUND THE HILL Nothing yet.
| | THURSDAY’S ANSWER: Meredith Olson was the first person to correctly guess that Jim Bunning was the former senator who once struck out 253 batters in a single season. (And shoutout to a former Secretary of Transportation who got it too) TODAY’S QUESTION, from Meredith: what state has the highest percentage of women serving in their legislature? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. GET INSIDE CONGRESS emailed to your phone each evening. | | | | Follow us | | | | |
