West Virginia U.S. Senate Race

Race of the Day

West Virginia U.S. Senate

October 14, 2008
21 Days Until Election Day

Status: Democrat Incumbent
2004 Presidential Result: Red State (South)

Outlook: Safe Democrat

Democrat Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, also known as Jay, is a scion of one of the most wealthy and prominent families in American history, both through their business and (typically Republican) participation in politics. Jay Rockefeller though, moved to West Virginia as a young man and soon embarked on a political career. In 1984, he was first elected to the U.S. Senate, on the same night his Republican father in law lost his Senate seat in Illinois. Since that time, Rockefeller has been close to impossible to challenge in the state and despite frequent speculation that he would one day seek the Presidency, has proven content to remain in the Senate.

While Rockefeller has generated controversy by such recent statements as one that seemed to criticize John McCain's Vietnam War service, he remains firmly entrenched in a state that loves their Democrat political institutions. He will easily defeat former Republican State Senator Jay Wolfe, who shares the same first name as the incumbent but not his statedwide electoral history. Wolfe was the defeated GOP Senate candidate against Robert C. Byrd, even a bigger institution in the state, 20 years ago, and again against Rockefeller in 2002.

But when all is said and done, Wolfe may most rue the day he decided not to adopt as his campaign theme a modified version of a Duran Duran classic entitled, "Hungry Like the Wolfe."

Wolfe campaign link:

2008 U.S. Senate predictions: 15 D, 18 R
Predicted Senate balance of power thus far: 54 D, 44 R

http://jaywolfe2008.com/