Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Thursday that he won’t seek reelection in 2024.

Now, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is facing a more difficult battle to remain Senate majority leader… and President Joe Biden is worrying about Manchin’s next steps.

After Manchin’s announcement, voters look more likely to fire both Schumer and Biden.

The Senate Democrats were facing a difficult year even before Manchin’s announcement.

33 Senate seats are up for grabs in next year’s election, and 23 of them belong to Democrats. Plus, three of those Democrat seats, including Manchin’s, represent states won by Donald Trump in 2020. Several other senators, like Nevada Democrat Jacky Rosen, are heading for re-election in closely divided states.

This year, the Senate Democrats have held a narrow majority of 51-49. For the two years before that, they had only a 50-50 majority, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving the tiebreaking vote.

Given his state’s conservative leanings, Manchin looks likely to be replaced by a Republican… and Schumer’s uphill battle just became steeper.

Plus, Manchin seemed to hint at the possibility of running for president as an independent candidate, a potential headache for President Joe Biden.

“I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate, but what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together,” Manchin said in a statement.

In a 2022 poll about a hypothetical primary, Manchin finished ahead of Kamala Harris. In one focus group last year, an independent Manchin performed especially well with swing voters.

In fact, a nonprofit called No Labels has been pushing for Manchin to partner with retiring Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican. The group filed paperwork to form a formal draft committee with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday.

Some Democrats have predicted Manchin’s decision to retire from the Senate. In 2018, the senator endured his toughest election in three decades of public service.

Plus, Republican challengers have long been clamoring for Manchin’s seat. GOP Rep. Alex Mooney jumped into the race less than two weeks after winning his fifth term in the House in November 2022. Hugely popular two-term Republican Gov. Jim Justice joined the Senate race earlier this year and was endorsed by Trump, only increasing the challenges for Manchin as he considered whether to seek reelection.

Biden issued a statement Thursday praising Manchin for his decades of public service.

“For more than forty years — as a state legislator, a Secretary of State, a Governor, and a Senator — Joe Manchin has dedicated himself to serving the people of his beloved West Virginia. During my time as Vice President and now as President, Joe and I have worked together to get things done for hardworking families,” Biden said.

However, even as Democrats have mourned the loss of Manchin, they constantly complained about him before this announcement. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., even suggested a primary challenge to Manchin, presumably because of Manchin’s decision to kill the Build Back Better Act.

Now, with Manchin on his way out, the Democrats may be complaining about bigger things.

 

Flashback! Kamala Harris polling behind… Joe Manchin?!

 

The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.