Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott files to run in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in West Virginia.

CHARLESTON – While attention has been on the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, the Democratic primary to succeed U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin has a new candidate in Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott.

Elliott filed his official candidacy certificate Tuesday to run in the May 14 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in person at the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office at the State Capitol Building in Charleston. He was joined by his wife Cassandra and son Harrison.

Tuesday’s filing ends more than a month of speculation surrounding Elliott and his possible candidacy. While filing as a Democratic candidate, Elliott believes his experiences as a mayor working with both political parties gives him valuable expertise to bring to Capitol Hill.

“We live in divided times,” Elliott said following his filing Tuesday. “I’ve been mayor for eight years in the City of Wheeling. I have to work with Republicans and Democrats across the aisle. We don’t have the luxury to do the political stuff that sometimes happens at the state and federal level. I want to bring that experience to Washington on behalf of the people of West Virginia.”

Elliott is in his second term as mayor of Wheeling, first elected in 2016 and again in 2020. A former legislative assistant to the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Elliott is seeking the same U.S. Senate seat previously held by Byrd and now held by Manchin, D-W.Va.

“I worked for Sen. Byrd; my first job out of college and I learned a lot about the inner workings of the Senate,” Elliott said. “I really had a front-row seat with a legend in history of not only West Virginia but the Senate itself.”

A Wheeling native and graduate of The Linsly School, Elliott is a 1994 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a 2001 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center. Elliott returned to Wheeling in 2009 after a career with Baker Botts LLP, an international law firm based in Washington, D.C.

Prior to being elected mayor, Elliott was active in economic development and downtown Wheeling revitalization projects, including Market Street Now LLC and efforts at renovating historic structures. Besides his work as an attorney, Elliott was also active in real estate and commercial/residential property management.

Elliott is the first Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate to file with the Secretary of State.

Manchin announced his retirement last November from the U.S. Senate once his term ends at the end of 2024. Manchin now is creating a political movement around moderate politics and exploring a possible third party run for U.S. Ppesident. Manchin won a special election for U.S. Senate in 2010 to fill the remaining term of Byrd who died that same year. Manchin is nearing the end of his second full six-year term.

Elliott is the second term-limited mayor of a major West Virginia city seeking a higher office. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. To date, Williams is the only Democratic candidate to file for governor. Elliott said he also consulted with mayors in West Virginia and around the nation before deciding to run.

“I’ve met a lot of mayors across the state and worked with them,” Elliott said. “They think I would be a good voice for them. With Senator Manchin out of the picture, they thought there was a void. If it wasn’t for taking to other people around the state, especially mayors, I probably wouldn’t be doing this. But they gave me the nudge, acknowledging that the Democratic Party in this state has a branding problem that we have to work on.”

The candidate filing period in West Virginia ends at midnight Saturday, Jan. 27.