How A Coal Magnate, Jim Crow Voting Laws & 1,017 Votes Made Democrats Senate Majority

On the evening of May 8, 2018, Republicans were celebrating loudly. It was the night of the West Virginia GOP Senate primary, and they had managed to block Don Blankenship, a mining executive convicted of conspiring to violate mine safety standards in relation to a disaster that killed 29 people, from winning the partys nomination to challenge Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.

West Virginia, where then-President Donald Trump had won nearly 70% of the vote two years earlier, was seen as a prime pickup opportunity for Republicans, as long as they didnt blow it by nominating a toxic candidate like Blankenship. At 10:11 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells political team fired off a meme meant to reference Blankenships bizarre accusation that McConnell was tied to cocaine smuggling, fully embracing the Kentuckians newfound Cocaine Mitch nickname.

Thanks for playing, @DonBlankenship. #WVSen pic.twitter.com/TV1ETgQdmu

Team Mitch (Text MITCH to 47360) (@Team_Mitch) May 9, 2018","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Team Mitch (Text MITCH to 47360)","author_url":"https://twitter.com/Team_Mitch","cache_age":86400,"description":"Thanks for playing, @DonBlankenship. #WVSen pic.twitter.com/TV1ETgQdmu Team Mitch (Text MITCH to 47360) (@Team_Mitch) May 9, 2018\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":512,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DcuHK6aXkAARpzZ.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1024,"title":"Team Mitch (Text MITCH to 47360) on 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Thanks for playing, @DonBlankenship . #WVSen pic.twitter.com/TV1ETgQdmu
Team Mitch (Text MITCH to 47360) (@Team_Mitch) May 9, 2018

What Republicans didnt realize was that national Democrats were also celebrating, just a bit more quietly.

The path to a Democratic Senate majority which creates hope to enact large swaths of President Joe Biden s agenda, and allowed the passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (containing $1,400 checks for most Americans, a potentially revolutionary expansion of the child tax credit , more robust subsidies for Obamacare , expanded unemployment benefits, a massive investment in Native American tribes, rental assistance and cash for vaccine distribution) is littered with turning points like this one.

Democrats bare 50-seat majority includes two seats that, under normal circumstances, they would not have had a chance to pry out of GOP hands until 2022. The partys coalition which is heavy on urban residents and racial minorities is a poor fit for a Senate map that gives disproportionate power to rural white voters . Overcoming the Senates bias involved hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of working hours on both sides of the political divide, along with some moments of true political savvy and pure dumb luck.