Her name is Paula Jean Swearengin. I do not know much about her, but I do know that she has the support of both Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats. She has a compelling story on her web site regarding her family, living in coal country, and wanting to keep the environment clean. Her issues focus on jobs, education, and health care.
Here are two videos on her:
Young Turks
Secular Talk
What I do know regarding Joe Manchin are the following:
- He is not looked upon in a positive light by Progressives.
- His record on issues tend to lean right more often than they do left. He loves to side with corporations.
- There were petitions to remove him from Democratic Leadership after his votes for most of Trump's nominees.
- When his constituents confronted him over his lack of support of Bernie Sanders after Bernie won his state in the primaries, his response was "I'm not changing. Vote me out!"
It looks like someone from West Virginia is actually going to take him up on this. In a state that Bernie won, this should be very interesting.
Progressives should watch this race closely.