Joe Manchin Endorses Republicans in Key Senate Races
Left 0%
Center 0%
Right 100%
0 left · 0 center · 2 right
What happened
Former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent in 2024, endorsed Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine in her Senate reelection race. Speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box, Manchin said he would campaign for Collins, calling her the "soul of the Senate" and someone "you can talk to" who "wants to do the right thing all the time." Collins, seeking a sixth term, is running against Democrat Troy Jackson, who became the nominee after Democratic primary winner Graham Platner withdrew following sexual assault allegations. A CNN/SSRS survey put Jackson ahead 48 percent to 45 percent, within the margin of error.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 3 articles
3 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
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- How it developed
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This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
The tightness of the Maine race and the Senate majority math appear only in right-leaning coverage. Left-leaning coverage never says Collins is trailing or that Maine is among the few seats that could flip the chamber. Right-leaning coverage reports Jackson ahead in a CNN/SSRS survey. It also notes a 53-47 Republican majority Democrats must crack. A reader of only The Hill would take Manchin's nod as a centrist personality story, not a move in a toss-up that could decide control of the Senate.
Left-leaning coverage leads with Jackson as a progressive who supports “Medicare for All.” Right-leaning coverage never mentions that platform and instead opens on a crucial battle to keep a fragile majority intact.
Did Manchin give any reason to reject Jackson, and how did either campaign respond?
Bottom line
The Hill never mentions that Collins is trailing in Maine. Daily Wire never mentions Jackson’s “Medicare for All” platform.
The receipts — 3 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Democratic primary winner Graham Platner withdrew after sexual assault allegations, and Jackson became the nominee
- Troy Jackson supports Medicare for All
- President Trump has never carried Maine in three presidential campaigns
The Left View
The Hill frames Manchin as a prominent centrist who left the Democratic Party at the end of his Senate career and is now backing Collins over Jackson, described as a "progressive challenger who supports 'Medicare for All' and dismantling Immigration" policy. The coverage treats the endorsement chiefly as a centrist's rejection of a left-wing Democratic nominee rather than as a fight over national Senate control.
The Right View
The Daily Wire calls the endorsement a "stunning cross-party move" in a "crucial" race that could boost Collins as Republicans defend a 53-47 majority. It argues Manchin's campaigning reinforces the independent, bipartisan image Collins has long relied on, at a moment when 51 percent of voters view her unfavorably. Nationally, it says Democrats need four seats to retake the Senate and Maine is among the most winnable Republican-held seats because President Trump has never carried it in three presidential campaigns; if Democrats lose Maine, "their odds of reclaiming the Senate shrink dramatically." The outlet adds that in 2020, Democratic challenger Sara Gideon led in nearly every survey but Collins won on Election Day, and that no single endorsement or poll is infallible.
Our Take (balanced)
The left's strongest argument is that Manchin, already departed from the Democratic Party, is choosing Collins over a progressive challenger defined by support for Medicare for All — a centrist-versus-left split more than a conversion of Democratic voters. The right's strongest argument is that a prominent former Democratic senator vouching for Collins, and pledging to campaign, directly supports the bipartisan brand she needs with Maine independents, with her 2020 win after trailing in the polls as the best evidence that Jackson's narrow lead is not decisive. The central unresolved tension is whether the endorsement mainly certifies Collins's cross-party appeal in a way that reassures persuadable voters, or mainly restates Manchin's already-completed break with Democrats and therefore moves few votes in a race where her unfavorables remain high.
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