MANCHIN, Joe, III, a Senator from West Virginia; born August 24, 1947, in Farmington, Marion County, West Virginia; graduated Farmington High School, Farmington, WV, 1965; B.A., West Virginia University, 1970; businessman; member of the West Virginia house of delegates 1982-1986; member of the West Virginia state senate 1986-1996; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1996; Secretary of State, West Virginia 2000-2004; elected governor of West Virginia in 2004 and reelected in 2008; chairman of the National Governors Association 2010; elected to the United States Senate in the November 2, 2010, special election to the term ending January 3, 2013, a seat previously held by Senator Carte Goodwin, and took the oath of office on November 15, 2010.

Carte P. Goodwin served as Governor Joe Manchin’s chief counsel during his first term in office from 2005-2009 and was at one time the chairman (designated by Gov. Manchin) of the West Virginia School Building Authority. In 2009, Manchin appointed him chair of the Independent Commission on Judicial Reform, which studied the need for judicial reforms in West Virginia. In 2008, Goodwin was named one of the “Ten Most Successful Young Executives in West Virginia” by Executive magazine. Read his bio on Wikipedia

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Currently: The country is mourning the passing the late great Senator Byrd, President Obama delivered the eulogy, “As I reflect on the full sweep of his 92 years, it seems to me that his life bent toward justice…” Read more from the Washington Post.

Bio: The Late Senator Robert Carlyle Byrd from West Virginia (born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. on November 20, 1917) was the longest-serving senator and the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress. He was a member of the Democratic Party and served as a Senator from 1959 to 2010.  Read his bio on Wikipedia.