Joe Manchin is the father of Heather Manchin Bresch.
Joe Manchin is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010.
Manchin graduated from Farmington High School in 1965. He went to West Virginia University on a football scholarship in 1965, but an injury during practice ended his football career. Manchin graduated with a degree in business administration in 1970.
Before entering politics, Manchin helped found and was the president of Enersystems, a coal brokerage company his family owns and operates.
Manchin was a state legislator from 1982 to 1996, where he earned a reputation for standing up for West Virginians.
A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th secretary of state of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. He became the state’s senior U.S. senator when Jay Rockefeller retired in 2015.
Manchin won the 2010 special election to fill the vacant Senate seat due to the death of incumbent Democrat Robert Byrd with 53% of the vote. He was elected to a full term in 2012 with 61% of the vote and reelected in 2018 with just under 50% of the vote.
Manchin won elections in West Virginia even as the state became heavily Republican; he was the only Democrat in West Virginia’s congressional delegation or holding statewide office in 2021.
Senator Manchin is an avid pilot, outdoorsman, hunter, angler and motorcyclist.
He has been married to Gayle Conelly of Beckley since 1967. They have three children: Heather, Joseph IV and Brooke Manchin, and are grandparents of Joseph V, Sophie, Kelsey, Madeline, Chloe, Jack, Carly, Vivian, Beaux and Knox.