Activist Swearengin To Challenge Manchin In Primary

By Jake Zuckerman Since U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., goaded critics in a February telephone town hall to take him on in a primary, an environmental activist has taken his advice and declared her candidacy for the seat. Paula Jean Swearengin, a new politician with ties to Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, said the coal industry has dominated West Virginia politics for too long, and she wants to run to protect the state's land and its people who have been harmed along the way. "What made me want to run for office was, me being a Democrat, Jim Justice, one of the biggest polluting coal barons in West Virginia, is now my Democratic governor," she said.